Former banker reinvents herself with a G.G. diploma from GIA Italy

By Tara J. McKenna

Pilar Coin had no idea what was in store for her as she walked through the crowded aisles of the Vicenza Gold and Jewelry Trade Fair in 1991. She had seen her share of booths and tables crowded with heaps of jewelry since moving to Italy in 1989 as the young bride of Roberto Coin, a jewelry designer. But she wasn’t 100 percent sure how she, originally a banker, would fit into her husband’s company.

At least not until she met Federico “Fred” Stocco.

He, too, was taking in the masses of gold at the fair when she ran into him. They began to talk and Coin voiced her enthusiasm for the industry and her concerns about her place in it. Stocco, the future director of GIA Italy, encouraged her to start a new career by first taking GIA’s classes in the new learning center in Vicenza, which was scheduled to open the following year.

Coin, infected by Stocco’s excitement about education, decided it would be a good starting point for success in the gem and jewelry industry. She enrolled and became one of the first graduates of GIA Italy with a Graduate Gemologist diploma in 1992. It wasn’t an easy choice for her to make at the time.

“Pilar felt she was at a disadvantage because she was coming back into a classroom setting after some years away,” said Kathy Stocco, Fred Stocco’s wife and director of Operations for GIA Italy. “But she was a model student with that something extra. She showed tremendous desire and enthusiasm to do her best in the classroom so she would have everything GIA could possibly give her to bring back to her husband’s company.” 

Unexpected Career Change
Coin was well into a career in banking as vice director of Latin American clientele at the Geneva branch of the Republic National Bank of New York, when she met Roberto Coin.

Born in Spain, she moved to Geneva as a young girl, and attended Ecole Supérieure de Commerce in Corbusier and Ecole de Commerce Benedict in Geneva for her business and marketing degrees. She also took courses at Geneva University to prepare for a career in the banking industry, which she had been working in since 1980.

Then she met her future husband and everything changed.

“I got married to Roberto in 1989 and we moved to Vicenza. The banking systems were very different there and I felt completely lost,” Coin said. “But I liked fashion, and I have always enjoyed gemstones, so my husband asked me to work for him.”

It was the first step on the road to a new career, one Coin said she finds rewarding. But it wasn’t until she graduated from GIA that she truly felt comfortable.

“I started having a proper role at the company in 1992 because I went to GIA to study so I could understand the market,” Coin said.

She bought stones and supervised buyers until 2002, when an opportunity to lead the company’s marketing department became available. She is responsible for building the Roberto Coin brand throughout the world as director of Marketing and Advertisement for the company.

“I think working in the jewelry industry is more interesting for a woman than working somewhere else,” Coin said. “The jewelry, the gems, everything is beautiful. It’s always a challenge, but it’s always fascinating. I don’t know if I would like doing marketing for another type of business.

“I am proud of doing my job the best I can. I think my husband has a lot of success and this is the biggest compliment I could receive.”

Passing the Torch
Coin believes her studies at GIA Italy helped her make the smooth transition from banking to jewelry and wants others to experience the same success she has found, she said.

So when a Chinese client mentioned that their son wanted to study at GIA, but didn’t want to travel all the way to America, Coin suggested they send him to GIA Italy instead.

“Pilar assured them she would take personal responsibility to see that he was well taken care of,” Kathy Stocco said. “She helped with the immigration process, found him accommodations and even made sure he was not alone on the weekends. Thanks to Pilar, he successfully completed the program and earned his G.G. to take back to the family business.”

He was GIA Italy’s first Chinese student and not the last student Coin helped. She’s also taken a Spanish client’s daughter, a student at GIA Italy, under her wing.

“That is Pilar,” Kathy Stocco said. “As busy as she is, she always has time for people who need her. She has certainly fulfilled her goals and still works with passion and enthusiasm. We at GIA Italy are proud to have had her as a student, and now an important alumna.”