Edward Asscher is the new President of the World Diamond Council (WDC), the international organization that is charged with leading the industry’s effort to prevent conflict diamonds from entering the jewelry supply chain and with representing it in the tripartite Kimberley Process coalition. Formerly the WDC Vice President took over from Stephane Fischler, who had served first as WDC’s Acting President, starting in 2017, and then for two years as President, beginning in 2018.
During the virtual meeting, the WDC Board also confirmed the election of Feriel Zerouki, Senior Vice President of International Relations & Ethical Initiatives at the De Beers Group, as WDC Vice President, who will be the first woman ever to hold the position. According to the WDC bylaws, she will automatically become WDC President at the end of Asscher’s two-year term in 2022.
The Board also confirmed the reelection of Ronnie Vanderlinden, President of the International Diamond Manufacturers Association (IDMA), as WDC Treasurer, and the appointment of Udi Sheintal as WDC Secretary.
A member of one of the diamond industry and Amsterdam’s most well-known families, Asscher will be serving a second term as WDC President, having held the role from 2014 to 2016. He currently is also Vice President of the European Council of Diamond Manufacturers, and is a past President of both IDMA and the International Diamond Council (IDC), a diamond standards-setting organization affiliated to IDMA and the World Federation of Diamond Bourses (WFDB).
Alex Shishlo, Editor of the Rough&Polished European Bureau
