A platinum ring set with a 4.71 ct. paraiba tourmaline by Leon Mege was the winning design at the 2015 AGTA Spectrum Awards.
Speaking at the Awards ceremony in New York, AGTA chief executive Douglas Hucker said the association was “thrilled with the variety of entries” in this year’s competition.
“I did not envy the decisions that our judges had to make, yet I was pleased to see how carefully they deliberated over each and every decision they made, resulting in this year’s amazing list of winners,” he said.
The other major winners at the 2015 AGTA Spectrum Awards were:
Best Use of Colour
Paula Crevoshay (Crevoshay)
18ct yellow gold ‘The Venus Bracelet’ featuring freshwater baroque cultured pearls accented with pink and green tourmalines
Best Use of Platinum and Colour
Deirdre Featherstone (Featherstone Design)
Platinum ‘Anemone’ earrings featuring tanzanites accented with blue zircons, purple sapphires, tsavorite garnets, indigo tourmalines, paraiba tourmalines and diamonds
Best Use of Pearls
Naomi Sarna (Naomi Sarna Designs)
18ct rose gold necklace featuring white cultured pearls accented with pink diamonds
Fashion Forward
Ion Ionescu (Ionescu Design)
18ct yellow gold ring featuring a 36ct turquoise accented with a 9.2mm Tahitian silver cultured pearl, paraiba tourmalines and diamonds
Bridal Wear – 1st Place
Deirdre Featherstone (Featherstone Design)
Platinum ‘Anemone’ earrings featuring tanzanites accented with blue zircons, purple sapphires, tsavorite garnets, indigo tourmalines, paraiba tourmalines and diamonds
Business/Day Wear – 1st Place
Jennifer Rabe Morin (Silverhorn Jewelers)
18ct rose gold ring featuring carved turquoise accented with amethyst cabochons
Evening Wear – 1st Place
Maria Canale (Suna Bros)
Platinum and 20ct pink gold bracelet featuring multi-coloured natural spinels accented with white and pink diamonds
Men’s Wear – 1st Place
Dawn Muscio (D. Muscio Fine Jewelry Studio)
18ct red gold and stainless steel ‘Pink2’ cufflinks featuring morganites accented with rubies and diamonds
Launched in 1984, the AGTA Spectrum Awards “ honours, recognises and promotes designers whose work utilises natural coloured gemstones and cultured pearls in finished fine jewellery design. Each entry is judged on the basis of overall beauty and wearability, innovative design, effective use of materials, quality of gemstones, quality of workmanship, broad-based consumer appeal and potential to generate positive publicity for natural coloured gemstones.
The 2015 entries will be displayed at the 2015 AGTA GemFair Tucson which will be held on February 3-8 at the Tucson Convention Centre.