The De Beers Group Designers Initiative has announced that its biennial jewellery design competition Shining Light Awards will be open to participants from Canada also for the first time ever.

The contest, with the theme ‘Heroines and Heritage’ will now be held across four of the countries where De Beers mines its diamonds – South Africa (where it was launched 22 years ago), Botswana and Namibia (where is has been held for the past decade) and now Canada.

Announcing the details for the competition, De Beers said that designs should include feminine elements that speak to women, that evoke national pride as well as symbols of strength, heritage, wisdom and beauty.

Stephen Lussier, Executive Vice President at De Beers Group and CEO of Forevermark, said “The Shining Light Awards have proven to be a valuable design platform to showcase talent and open opportunities for young people within the diamond sector and international markets. This is in-line with De Beers Group objectives on beneficiation through skills development of the youth.”

Pat Dambe, Vice-President of Corporate Affairs and Government Relations, De Beers Global Sightholder Sales said: “We have just concluded roadshows to all the four De Beers Group producer countries, where we visited various Universities to present to design students on the project and how they can become part of it. Reception has been great.  Over the years, we have seen high quality submissions and we anticipate that this year the response will be even greater.”

Winners of the Shining Light Awards will participate in a 12-month apprenticeship programme the Faculty of Design at Milan Polytechnic and runners-up will win a 3-month internship program at Forevermark or a design programme at a local design school.

 “We are very happy to have taken this forward into a scholarship programme to include Batswana, Namibians, South Africans and Canadian participants with aspirations to participate in the downstream of the diamond industry,” said Dambe.

Constantino Papadimitriou, Head of Brand Strategy and Innovation at De Beers Forevermark, said, “Over the years, we have seen how the Shining Light Awards have presented students with a great opportunity to develop their skills in jewellery manufacturing. We are looking forward to seeing the journey they take in interpreting the theme and bringing it to life. It is most gratifying that as a result of this competition, we will now see winners enrolled through the Forevermark Design School in Milan, signifying the growth of the programme since inception.”

The last date for submission of entries is Thursday, 31 January 2019.