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Spectrum Awards photo

Natural blue agate bangle accented with diamond and platinum ribbons by Ashok Sancheti

Jewelry Awards

Spectrum awards celebrate best jewelry designs for 2009

Several years ago I was asked by the American Gem Trade Association to be a judge in its annual Spectrum Awards jewellery design competition. Thrilled to participate, I flew down to AGTA headquarters in Dallas to feast my eyes on a roomful of glittering gemstone jewellery that represented the best of the best from the top designers in North America. It was like discovering Aladin's secret cave, and it was fun - but not as much fun as it sounds. The judging process turned out to be a two-day ordeal of grudging elimination of pieces, one by one, as we attempted to narrow down the selection to a handful of winning designs.

The difficult task of judging the competition this year fell to six talented stylemakers: designer/educator Cecelia Bauer, gem artist John Hatleberg, Nicole Keating of W magazine, Benjamin Macklowe of the Macklowe Gallery, writer/consultant Marlene Richey and Mish Tworkowski of Mish New York. It was judged in New York in late October, and the winning pieces were announced in November. This year the competition, open to jewellery designers across North America, celebrates its 26^th year.

         The winning pieces celebrate the beauty of blue, green and purple tones, the season's most interesting colors, using emeralds, aquamarines, peridot, color-change garnets and freshwater pearls with pinkish/purplish overtones. Sapphire, in all its glorious colors, was also popular. The Best of Show leaf brooch by New York designer James Currens, with an extravagent 66 carats of emerald cabochons, demonstrates the return to the forefront of that noble precious gemstone and reflects the enduring love of nature motifs in jewellery design. The brooch tied for Best of Show with another of Curren's designs, an impressive 15.58-carat pear-shaped moonstone ring, accented with over six carats of color change garnets (blue in daylight; purple under incandescent light), and a row of diamonds on the bezel.

         Best Use of Color was awarded to Lilly Fitzgerald of Spencer, MA, for a 22k yellow gold necklace set with multi-colored sapphires, with the high-karat gold beautifully enriching the color of the sapphires. Santa Barbara designer Graham Edney won the prize for Best Use of Pearls, for a pair of platinum drop earrings with freshwater pearls, highlighted by white, pink and yellow diamonds totaling 1.50 carats. Best Use of Platinum and Color was awarded to Tracy Janule, Gilbert, AZ, for a platinum ring set with a 6.94ct aquamarine flanked by two tri-angel shield peridots and two square-cut peridots, totaling just over five carats.

         Entries were judged on the basis of overall beauty and wearability, innovative design, effective use of materials, quality of gemstones, quality of workmanship and broad-base consumer appeal.