New York: Platinum Guild International (PGI), the jewellery industry’s authority on the world’s most precious metal, has announced that its longtime chief executive, Huw Daniel, will retire at the end of March, after twenty one years with the organization.
Originally from Wales, Mr. Daniel spent a large portion of his career in advertising, working in both Europe and Asia, for notable clients such as British Airways and Proctor & Gamble, prior to joining PGI. His first introduction to the jewellery industry was his tenure with De Beers in Asia Pacific, where he worked on campaigns for eleven global markets.
Having started his tenure in 2003 as president of PGI USA, Mr. Daniel rose to the position of CEO in 2015.
On becoming CEO, Mr. Daniel shared, “It allowed me to leverage all the great people at PGI to build a high performing global team focused on driving innovation and value creation for the jewellery industry with platinum.”
When asked how PGI’s role within the industry has changed during his time at the helm, he noted “Our organization has evolved from a marketing/PR/event machine to a business partner with the jewelry industry. Platinum will always be a small part of the industry due to its natural rarity, but it can be a very important driver of differentiation and profitability. PGI’s focus today is to enable our partners to get the maximum incremental return from this superb material.”
PGI has named a successor, Mr. Tim Schlick, the organization’s current Chief Operating Officer, who will begin his tenure as Chief Executive Officer on April 4, 2024. Having been a valued member of PGI since 2015, when he joined as Chief Strategy Officer, the transition is expected to be seamless.
Benny Oeyen, Executive Head, Market Development, PGMs, for Anglo American, who support Platinum Guild International via dedicated funding, commented “It has been a pleasure to work with Huw over the years and I thank him for his unwavering commitment to developing the demand for platinum jewelry globally.” He continued, “My congratulations to Tim on his new role and I look forward to continuing to work closely together, as our relationship with Platinum Guild is fundamental to building and supporting platinum’s growth in the jewelry sector.”
Mr. Schlick’s vision for the future includes building on the strong foundation established by Mr. Daniel. He explained, “To me, the next logical step is to apply what we have built over the years to unlock more opportunities for the trade, and by doing so, create incremental value for both our partners and sponsors, scaling the value we create.”
