The DDCA is the Australian representative on the World Federation of Diamond Bourses (WFDB).
In what appears to be a straightforward switch of positions, Craig Miller, the former vice president, has taken over as president, while former president Rami Baron has assumed the vice president's position.
New additions to the DDCA board include Anna Cisecki, executive director of Australian Diamond Portfolio, and Nirav Shah, director of Affection Diamonds.
Adriana Traviati of Saphira Diamonds was previously listed as a board member; however, her profile has been removed.
Jeweller understands this is the first time since its inception in 2007 that Baron has not held the president's position of the DDCA. While Baron’s primary business interests are insurance - Miller and his family have a long history in diamond wholesaling.
It's believed that Miller assumed the role of president around February based on his Linkedin profile; however, this change only became publicly apparent after recent updates to the DDCA’s website.
In other words, months after Miller became president, Baron was still promoting himself as president, and until recently, the DDCA website still listed Baron as president; however, along with a new website design, the changes to officeholders were also acknowledged.
New Zealand off the map
These weren’t the only significant changes to the website. As previously reported, the DDCA once claimed to be “the Australian and New Zealand representative of the World Federation of Diamond Bourses (WFDB).”
When Jeweller first inquired about the DDCA's membership figures, it was unclear how this claim of representing New Zealand was substantiated. Furthermore, it was unclear if the DDCA included any members from New Zealand at all.
At the time, WFDB president Yoram Dvash told Jeweller, “The WFDB is not familiar with a diamond bourse in New Zealand.”
When contacted in August of 2022, the Jewellers Association of New Zealand (JANZ) and the Jewellers & Watchmakers New Zealand (JWNZ) knew nothing about the Australian-based club’s claims to represent and/or act on behalf of the New Zealand jewellery industry.
Despite requests for clarification, then-president Baron and/or the DDCA did not — or could not — provide evidence to substantiate the claims.
The DDCA has now removed the references to New Zealand from the website.
Trust disappears
Interestingly, the new website has also deleted multiple references to 'trust'.
Previously, the DCCA called itself a 'trusted source' and referenced itself and the WFDB as "trusted associations".
Readers may also find it interesting that, unlike the Jewellers Assocation of Australia, the DDCA is not a member of the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC).
What may not be widely understood is that the DDCA is registered as an unincorporated body with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC).
ASIC records show that Baron is listed as the DDCA’s sole representative, and its registered address is Market Street in Sydney.
This is the same address as several of Baron’s private companies, including insurance-related businesses such as Jewelclaim, JewelerCover, and Q Report.
Questions for new president
Jeweller contacted Craig Miller numerous times across August and September seeking information about his appointment as president.
Under Baron's presidency, the DDCA was tight-lipped about the organisation's membership.
Miller was asked: Will you, as the new president, begin to practice better governance, and be more transparent to the broader Australian jewellery industry?
He did not respond.
Miller was also asked why references to DDCA representing New Zealand have been removed from the website and why it has not been transparent about its membership.
Interestingly, while the DDCA website has been updated in recent months, the profile of its new president has seemingly remained unchanged.
Miller's profile states: “Craig is currently a founding partner in JC Jewels Pty Ltd., supplying loose diamonds and diamond jewelry [sic] to retailers across Australia and New Zealand.”
In April, Jeweller reported that Miller had been ousted as CEO.
At the time, JC Jewels' director Steven Braun was contacted about the circumstances of Miller’s departure after receiving reports it was neither expected nor amicable. Rumours also circulated that Miller was denied access to the Melbourne office.
Braun was asked if it was unusual for a CEO to depart a company amid a major restructuring. He refuted the suggestion, saying, “I'm not sure I agree it's that unusual. We're in a competitive market and restructures are not uncommon and often necessary.”
“While we recognise that restructures can be challenging for all parties involved, we're confident this decision is in the best interest of the company and our customers.”
At the time of publication, Miller remains listed as one of four directors and shareholders on ASIC records, the others being Steven Braun, Vincenzo Bonfa, and Timothy Demmy Sung.
His departure from JC Jewels occurred only four days after he appeared on the Rapaport Diamond Podcast on 7 April, where he discussed the state of the Australian jewellery industry.
Interestingly, after receiving feedback from readers that purportedly contradicted Miller's claims on the podcast, Rapaport News published a subsequent report on 16 May titled Are Lab-Grown Diamonds Really Taking Over Australia?
Miller's views on lab-grown diamonds on the podcast were questioned, with the Rapaport News follow-up article stating that "the shift to synthetics was less clear-cut".
It should be noted that, under Miller’s management, JC Jewels claimed to be “the largest supplier of Lab Grown diamonds in Australia”, something that may not have been disclosed during the Rapaport Diamond Podcast.
It is interesting to note that the new DDCA website has a Webinars and Podcasts page, which states: "The DDCA brings a series of innovative online webinars addressing the most critical issues affecting the diamond and jewellery trade, and covers a variety of key topics relevant to your business and your staff."
This suggests that the DDCA creates webinars and podcasts for members; however, the page lists five webinars, none of which are produced by the DDCA.
Furthermore, while showcasing four Rapaport Diamond Podcasts, the ‘controversial’ episode featuring Miller is not displayed on the DDCA website - even though he is the new president.
Every ending is a new beginning
Since his ousting from his own company, Miller has started a new diamond jewellery retail business with his brother Lonn, who was also terminated from JC Jewels on the same day.
The brothers launched Jewelco in Rose Bay, Sydney. The company's website describes the business as "Not B2C, not W2C, rather D2C—Direct to Consumer."
It also states its mission as: "A process of trust and integrity to turn our passion into your beautiful jewellery of the highest quality representing brilliant value."
ASIC records show that the business name was registered on 12 March 2023, around a month before Miller found himself locked out of the JC Jewels offices.
Given Miller’s extensive history in the jewellery industry, the DDCA profile is surprisingly sparse.
It does not mention Miller's new retail business. Rather, it focuses on JC Jewels and also mentions his connections to the family's South African diamond trading business, which was eventually moved to Sydney with the establishment of Miller Diamonds.
As previously reported, the company collapsed and was liquidated in 2014. Miller was a director of Miller Diamonds; however, the DDCA profile does not mention these details.
It also excludes any mention of his time at Showcase Jewellers, where he was the group’s diamond buyer between 2015 and 2019.
Footnote Miller’s apparent refusal to provide a DDCA membership figure will come as no surprise to readers familiar with the World Federation of Diamond Bourses (WFDB). In 2022, the WFDB effectively admitted that it did not know the number of members of any of its representatives, including the DDCA. Sharon Gefen head of public relations told Jeweller: “The critical point, from our side, is that the WFDB does not monitor the number of members of any of the bourses that belong to the federation.” It was a startling admission, given that visitors to the WFDB’s homepage are greeted with a prominent ‘number counter’ that quickly counts from zero to 28,780. While Jeweller exposed this issue in September 2022, amusingly, two years later, the WFDB’s website still features this same counter, reaching the exact figure of 28,780 members. This is despite the fact that the organisation changed the 'Years of Service' from 75 to 76 as well as the number of bourses displayed on the ‘counter’. The 'Worldwide Bourses' was updated and the number was reduced from 29 to 27. In March of this year, the WFDB refused to answer questions about which bourses had quit the organisation. Therefore, and intriguingly, even though there are fewer bourses, and the WDFB admits it does not know the membership figures of each of its individual bourses, its homepage ‘number counter’ still ascends to 28,780 members. |
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