The Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) felicitated the winners of The Artisan Jewellery Design Awards 2019 in the evening of February 13th, the final day of Signature IIJS 2019.    

The event, fittingly held at the Royal Opera House, was Powered by GIA, and Co-Partnered by the Diamond Producers Association (DPA). 

“This function is to introduce the new artists who are the glittering stars of our industry,” said the Chairman of the GJEPC, Pramod Kumar Agrawal in his opening speech. He went on to outline the various plans of the Council to enhance design and manufacturing skills; to provide a better, and upgraded, work environment for the artisans of the industry; and modern technological facilities which could be availed at economical rates by companies in the MSME sector. Some of these initiatives include the Common Facility Centres (CFCs) and Jewellery Parks. The Council also has plans to carry out cluster mapping in order to identify smaller centres of jewellery making, so that they too could be provided with the necessary support to both better their product and help bring it to the market.

Colin Shah, Vice Chairman of the Council, referring to the Design Inspirations seminar organised by the GJEPC on the previous day, said that they had received “very encouraging feedback” from participants at the seminar.  “If there was to be an ideal time to be a designer, that time is now,” said Shah going on to detail both, the importance of, and opportunities for, designers. He said that the Council was working on enhancing and elevating design talent through various ways – through the Design Inspiration seminar, the Trend Book which has been prepared by Paola De Luca, The Artisan Jewellery Design Competition – and they were also working through the IIGJs and Skilling Council to ensure that jewellery training courses became more career oriented and prepared designers to enter the industry with the necessary skills and confidence.

Richa Sharma, Managing Director, India, Diamond Producers Association (DPA) and Bollywood actress Aditi Rao Hydari had a brief interaction under the header “Real Conversations” (playing on the DPA advertising line, “Real is Rare. Real is a Diamond”), and both were quizzed by the host of the evening, Yudi, as well.   

And then it was time to award the winners. The Roll Call of Honour included:

Category I – Rings & Pendants

Winner:   Mehul Gupta, Independent Designer (Piece manufactured by Jewel Goldi)

1st Runner-Up:    Koushik Mondal, Tanvirkumar & Co.

2nd Runner-Up:   Deepika Pathya, Titan Company Ltd.

Finalists in the category: Biswarup Chakraborty, Independent Designer (Piece manufactured by Jewel Goldi), Mumbai; Isha Deb, Bluestone Jewellery; Kamal Parui, Emerald Jewel India Ltd.; Laxmikanth Mestry, IIGJ Tardeo, Mumbai (Piece manufactured by Vasupati Jewellers) and Twinkle Dhanesha, SDI-Bengaluru (Piece manufactured by KP Sanghvi).

Category II – Brooches and Pins

 Winner:    Mitali Kikani of H. Ajoomal Fine Jewellery

1st Runner-Up:     Aashna Chaudhary, Titan Company Ltd.

2nd Runner-Up:    Jayshree Tupe, A'Star Jewellery

Finalists in the category: Sanskruti Serrao, PNG Jewellers Ltd.; V. Saravanan, Titan Company Ltd.; and Rakesh Bhowmik, Tanvirkumar & Co.

Category III – Earrings & Bracelets

Winner:  Soukata Basu Malhotra, Independent Designer (Piece manufactured by Anand Shah)

1st Runner-Up:    Soumyajit Maity, Priority Jewels Ltd. 

2nd Runner-Up:   Yash Pandey, IIGJ Delhi (Piece manufactured by Anand Shah)

Finalists in the category: Aashna Chaudhary, Titan Company Ltd.; Hariharan T S, Titan Company Ltd.; Aaheli Datta, Titan Company Ltd.; Urvi Bansal, B.K Saraf Jewellers (Piece Manufactured by Gold Artism); Harsona J Choksi, Sangam Jewels Gold; and Bhavana Jain, Kama Schachter.

GJEPC had also introduced a new category of awards – ‘Best Product Inventory at Signature IIJS 2019’. There were a total of 8 sub categories for this award. The winners are as under:

1. Daily Wear Diamond Jewellery – Shree Fine Jewels Pvt. Ltd. (Winner), Zunda (1st runner up) & Sphere (2nd runner up)

2. Couture Diamond Jewellery – Tibarumal (Winner) Manak Diamonds (1st runner up), Splurge (2nd runner up)

3. Gold Jewellery – Sawansukha Jewellers (Winner), Gold Artism (1st runner up)

4. Silver Jewellery – R. K. Silver & Gold (Winner)

5. Platinum – Pure Platinum

6. Coloured Gemstones Jewellery – Tara Fine Jewels (Winner) Sanskriti Jewels (1st runner up), Birdhichand Ghanshyamdas (2nd runner up)

7. Kundan Meena Jewellery - VM Ornaments (Winner), Vasupati Jewellers India Pvt. Ltd. (1st runner up)

8. Pearl Jewellery – Manoj Ornaments (Winner)

Nirupa Bhatt Managing Director India and the Middle-East, GIA gave a brief speech congratulating the Council on taking the initiative on holding the competition and all the winners being felicitated that evening.

International renowned trend forecaster and founder of The Futurist Ltd, Paola De Luca, spoke briefly on India’s importance in the world of jewellery design and gave a brief introduction to “Aatman: Inspirations 2020” a trend book commissioned by the Council and produced by Paola. The Trend Book was also unveiled at the event.

“India is reclaiming its global stature as a leading pioneer in luxury jewellery design,” she said. “Aatman - Inspirations 2020 will inspire the new generation of Indian creative leaders, providing a blueprint for key design trends, raising topical issues affecting the diamond industry, and presenting an illustrated history of India’s early prominence in design.”

The   function was brought to a close with a Vote of Thanks by Milan Chokshi, Co-Convener of the Promotions, Marketing & Business Development Sub-Committee (PM&BD) of the GJEPC.

Pic Cap: (L-R) Mr. Pramod Agrawal, Chairman GJEPC; Actress Aditi Rao Hydari; Mitali Kikani, Winner of category “Brooches & Pins”; Richa Singh (MD India, Diamond Producers Association); Colin Shah, Vice Chairman, GJEPC; Milan Chokshi, Convener PM&BD, GJEPC