Boyajian lands at planned World Jewelry Center
National Jeweler, NY
AUGUST 02, 2006 – Las Vegas — While his former employers continue to search for his replacement, Bill Boyajian, who resigned from the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) in June, has been named managing director of Probity International’s World Jewelry Center (WJC) project, set to be built in Las Vegas.
According to a media release, WJC will be a global destination complex for consumer jewelry shopping as well as a hub for manufacturers, dealers, trade associations and wholesalers in the gem, jewelry and watch industries. The center, which as planned will be the tallest building in Vegas, is scheduled to open for business within four years.
The jewelry supercenter is the brainchild of property developer Robert Zarnegin, president and CEO of Probity, a real estate investment and development company based in Beverly Hills, Calif.
“Bill Boyajian’s acceptance to take charge of this most exciting project is another vote of confidence for the city of Las Vegas as a major future destination for the gem and jewelry industry,” stated Zarnegin in the release.
Boyajian will join WJC effective immediately.
“I am delighted to join the World Jewelry Center project and especially to work with my good friend Robert Zarnegin. Upon announcement of my retirement from GIA, Robert approached me to lead what I believe is the most significant jewelry industry project on the globe,” Boyajian said in the release. “Frankly, I was planning to take some time off after 20 years as president of GIA, but it was precisely because of Robert and his outstanding character and integrity that I enthusiastically agreed to head this project. I’m excited about the opportunity, inspired by the vision, and confident in the project’s fundamentals.”
Zarnegin expects the scope of the project to be global, with worldwide companies expressing interest in the center.
“With its favorable tax structure, and its position as America’s most popular destination, Las Vegas is the perfect place for this exciting new venture,” he said.
Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman—whose city gets 40 million visitors annually, a number expected to grow to 60 million in a decade—threw in his support for the venture.
“I see great potential in the project, which will be built on 5.3 acres in Union Park, a mixed-use, master-planned urban center in the heart of downtown Las Vegas, adjacent to the World Market Center and the Las Vegas Premium Outlets mall,” he said in the release.
In addition to bringing in Boyajian, WJC has also hired jewelry industry marketing firm MVI Marketing Ltd. to provide strategic advisory services.
“The WJC will be a beacon pointing to the future of our industry. That future will be defined by the jewelry consumer,” said MVI’s CEO, Marty Hurwitz. “Manufacturers, wholesalers and trade associations will benefit from the WJC as an industry-focused location in the high rise office tower adjacent to the retail promenade. Also, WJC is planned to have a Foreign Trade Zone designation making it easier for companies from all markets to locate here.”
