Jewelry Business Guru by Cindy Edelstein

2010 Saul Bell Design Award Competition Entry Form Available

In its tenth year, the Saul Bell Design Award competition continues to recognize artists whose work challenges traditional perceptions of jewelry design. They invite you to enter your most inspired creations in the 2010 Saul Bell Design Award competition.

All entries must be received by September 18, 2009. Get an application on their website at http://www.saulbellaward.com/callforentries.html.

 

Get the Right Perspective

I'm sitting at my desk, reviewing the100+ jpgs that are the entries for a design competition. That's how it goes now with some competitions and many juries, we're not all in a room reviewing slides but sitting at our own offices reviewing a CD.

I assume everyone has entered their best design from the past 12 months -- that's usually the first criteria of entering a design competition. When you can enter just 1 or 2 designs - I assume they are what you're most proud of and feel can best compete against your peers' best designs.

So why am I seeing so many bad photographs? And some work that is truly redundant?

Why put forth in lousy form something you consider your best art?

Why enter something that is so common -- do they not know better? Do they not read the trade magazines or shop the competition, so to speak, by reviewing what's already out there? Why not? 

Designers need perspective in their businesses -- especially these days -- and to know what's going on out there and really think about context.  What you send to a contest may not be what your wholesale buyers are most interested in and they both may differ from what a consumer would be most attracted to when shopping for herself.

Advice for the day: think of the right context for each scenario. Get the right perspective.

re⋅dun⋅dant                          –adjective

1.	characterized by verbosity or unnecessary repetition in expressing ideas; prolix: a redundant style.

Calling all colored-stone jewelry designs

National Jeweler magazine will be honoring the most exciting and unique colored-stone jewelry designs in the February installment of its 2009 Best of Marketing and Design Contest.

Entries can be submitted at NationalJeweler.com/BestOf by following a simple registration process (and $50 fee) and uploading the appropriate media files.

All colored-stone jewelry submissions will be judged during the first week in March by a panel of industry experts, including Victoria Gomelsky of Couture International Jeweler, Amanda Gizzi of the Jewelry Information Center and Lorraine DePasque of National Jeweler. Winners will be prominently featured in National Jeweler magazine and on its Web site, NationalJeweler.com.

"The Best of Program allows us to highlight the truly innovative design being created in today's jewelry market," National Jeweler Network Group Publishing Director Chris Casey said in a media release. "The monthly program alternates between product and advertising to showcase all faces that we show to the market. February's focus on gemstones ties to the excitement around Tucson and this still hot category."

Vision Award jewelry design competition deadline coming up

You have till Jan. 15th to come up with an entry in the MJSA 18th annual Vision Awards design competition.

Entries must be postmarked by JAN. 15, 2009. For submission guidelines and further information, visit http://www.mjsa.org/about_ava.php.

In addition to the overall Professional and Student Awards, the competition features special Distinction Awards that allows recognition of designers using specific materials or technologies in new and creative ways. This year’s featured Distinction categories include:

Enamel Distinction, sponsored by Rio Grande
Laser Distinction, sponsored by Crafford–LaserStar Technologies Corp.
Mokumé-gane Distinction, sponsored by Shining Wave Metals and Reactive Metals Studio
Palladium Distinction, sponsored by Hoover & Strong
Platinum Distinction, sponsored by Platinum Guild International

New for 2009! The Reactive Metals Challenge
The first 10 professional entrants for this challenge will have their $50 entry fees waived, courtesy of Reactive Metals Studio, if their designs incorporate the use of reactive metals. The winner of this challenge will receive a $500 cash prize.

All first and second place winners in all categories will receive cash awards of up to $1,000. Their winning entries will be on display for thousands of buyers and exhibitors during the annual MJSA Expo New York.

Ever Wonder What It's Like to Judge the AGTA Spectrum Awards?

Well then.... go see all the entries on the AGTA Spectrum Design Award webpage! It's only the second time they've ever posted all the 600+ entries and it's fascinating to see them all. Would you choose the same ones as the judges?

Entries Now Being Accepted for the 2009 MJSA Vision Awards Design Competition

The competition is divided into two categories: Professional and Student Awards. In addition to the Professional and Student Awards, all eligible professional entries may qualify for Distinction Awards, which include:

Enamel Distinction, sponsored by Rio Grande
Laser Distinction, sponsored by Crafford–LaserStar Technologies Corp.
Mokumé-gane Distinction, co-sponsored by Shining Wave Metals and Reactive Metals Studio
Palladium Distinction, sponsored by Hoover & Strong
Platinum Distinction, sponsored by Platinum Guild International

The 2009 awards will also feature “The Reactive Metals Challenge,” which will honor professional designs that incorporate niobium, tantalum, and/or titanium. The first 10 entrants will have their $50 competition entry fees waived, courtesy of Reactive Metals Studio, if their design submissions meet the challenge’s criteria. The winner will receive a $500 cash prize.

Other award winners will receive up to $1,000 and will be honored at MJSA Expo New York on March 8, 2009.

The submission deadline is Jan. 15, 2009. The competition entry fee for professional designers is $50 (for up to 3 entries maximum); free for students. For more submission guidelines and further information, or to download an entry form, visit www.mjsa.org.

AGTA Spectrum Design Competition Winners Announced -- JRB Inner Circle Members Lauded

 AGTS Spectrum Design Competition winners were announced today and we are thrilled to see several JRB Inner Circle Members lauded for their designs. Here are their prize titles -- you can click through to see the whole list of winners.

Best Use of Platinum and Color and Platinum Honors in Bridal Wear:
Erica Courtney, Erica Courtney, Los Angeles.
Platinum necklace featuring a 112.84 ct. Aquamarine briolette accented with Diamonds and Aquamarines (4.79 ctw.).

Bridal Wear
First Place - Bridal Wear: Judy Evans, Richard Krementz Gemstones, Springdale, N.J.
Platinum earrings featuring Morganite briolettes (27.08 ctw.) accented with diamonds (2.35 ctw.).

Third Place - Bridal Wear: Carley  McGee-Boehm, Carley Jewels, Solana Beach, Calif.
Palladium earrings featuring cuprian Tourmalines (18.09 ctw.) accented with black Spinel and rock Crystal Quartz helioliths.

Business/Day Wear
Third Place - Business/Day Wear: Ashleigh Branstetter, Ashleigh Branstetter, LLC, Baton Rouge, La.
18K yellow gold ring featuring a 32.10 ct. pink tourmaline cabochon accented with Diamonds (.58 ctw.).

Classical

Second Place - Classical: Erica Courtney, Erica Courtney.
18K yellow gold ring featuring a 17.51 ct. chalcedony cabochon accented with turquoise cabochons (3.10 ctw.) and diamonds.

Manufacturing Honors - Evening Wear: Erica Courtney, Erica Courtney.
18K yellow gold earrings featuring pear-shaped and antique cushion-cut tanzanites (17.56 ctw.).

Platinum Honors - Men's Wear: Mark  Schneider, Mark Schneider Design, Long Beach, Calif.
Platinum ring featuring an 11.54 ct. indicolite tourmaline accented with white and yellow diamonds (1.58 ctw.).

Objects of Art

Honorable Mention - F - Objects of Art: Robert Wander, Robert Wander for Winc Creations, Honolulu, Hawaii.   Walking stick with an 18K yellow gold flamingo handle featuring multi-colored sapphires (95.58 ctw.) and chocolate diamonds (1.57 ctw).

See JCK online for all the winners -- and congratulations to all!

Jewelry Artist Magazine's Design Competition Awards 10 Outstanding Winners

We were so pleased to see the winners, a few in particular, of the seventh annual Jewelry Arts Awards. Entries were judged for excellence, visual appeal and impact, originality, and execution in these five categories: Pendants/Necklaces, Bracelets, Pins/Brooches, Rings, and Miscellaneous Jewelry.

This contest, sponsored by Jewelry Arts Magazine (used to be Lapidary Journal), always has a diverse roster of winners including newcomers. Every jewelry designer should try and enter sometime... it's a good thing to do.

Marie Scarpa won Best of Competition (also First Place, Pendants/Necklaces) NAUTILLESQUE. www.mariescarpadesigns.com

We loved seeing our friend -- designer and retailer extraordinaire, llyn strong, take First Place in the Miscellaneous Jewelry with her YELLOW BERYL SUITE. www.llynstrong.com

Visit Jewelry Artist website to see all the winners. And to get an application for the 2009 Contest which will be there in mid-November, they say.

Winners Announced for the first Centurion Emerging Designer Awards

Centurion 2009 has named the winners of the first-ever Centurion Emerging Designer Awards.

The three winners, Alexandra Hart, Mark Maxwell and Uwe Schlappner, will each make their fine-jewelry trade show debut at the upcoming Centurion show, to be held in Tucson, Ariz., from Jan. 31-Feb. 4, 2009.   

The competition was created to give up-and-coming designers from around the world the opportunity to exhibit in front of top retail stores.

read more about it on National Jeweler's industry's news website.

          

Saul Bell Award Winners Feted in Las Vegas

Another great event during the Las Vegas Market week last month was the 8th annual Saul Bell Design Awards. No other design competition honors it's winners quite like the folks at Rio Grande, the sponsor of the Saul Bell Awards.

The awards ceremony is a lovely, long dinner with a great video created of and by the winners. The star is the editor of the film who pieces together great responses to pendantic questions. What's your inspiration? How do you describe your hands?

The competition invites designers to create original jewelry designs in seven categories. Rio Grande annually awards nearly $30,000 in prizes.

This year’s categories and finalists are as follows:
Gold/Platinum —Thomas Dailing, Thomas Dailing Designs; Sowon Joo; James Kaya, Solair Jewelers; Patricia Madeja, Patricia Madeja Studio Jewelry; and Kim Yanke, Yanke Designs.

PMC —Dina Alexander; Claudia Atkins, Handmade Metals & Gems; Barbro Eriksdotter Gendell, Eriksdotter Design; Elizabeth Hall, Lizard’s Jewelry; and Donna Lewis, Belladonnasilver.

Silver —John Casner; Jane Garibaldi, Garibaldi Designs; Chihiro Makio, 314 Studio; Carol Salisbury, Carol Salisbury; Andrea Lucille Shin, Andrea Lucille Designs.

Beads — Larry River, Heart of Gold Gallery; Jonathan Rutledge, Jonathan Lee Rutledge; Susan & Jeff Wise, Future Wise Inc.; Jennifer Wood, Riot Designs; Genevieve Yang, Genevieve Yang.

Hollowware — David Bausman; Charles Funnell; Leslie Laine-Lewis; Joy Stember; Sadie Wang, Sadie Wang.

Swarovski — Beth Kraft, Nordic Gypsy Beads & Jewelry, Yutao Liu, YL Consulting Designs; Kimberly Starbard, Cove Beads; Wendy Wallin Malinow, Wallin Malinow Design; Elizabeth Weaver.

Emerging Artist — Anne Tedesco, Chaparral High School.

[TIP: This is one of the great design competitions to enter -- the categories are diverse, the process very professional and the entrants are diverse, too. Everyone should enter; the publicity and exposure is a great marketing benefit. The 2009 application is online now -- click here to go to the Saul Bell Award website.]