GJEPC officially announces the theme for the prestigious Artisan Jewellery Design Awards 2026, “Quantum Couture – Re-Engineering Beauty and Cultural Codes.”
The 2026 edition impels participants to push boundaries, move beyond boxed thinking and convention, and create wearable art for an evolving world—where jewellery design, heritage and technology coexist in a meaningful manner. “Quantum Couture” shifts the focus from simply preserving form to translating meaning through a lens of “augmented imagination.”
Speaking on this year’s theme, Mr. Kirit Bhansali, Chairman, GJEPC, said, “India’s artisanal legacy is not a static memory; it is a living force that is actively shaping the global future of design. With ‘Quantum Couture,’ we are challenging designers to treat heritage as an evolving system. This is not just a trend; it is a new operating system for jewellery. We are inviting the world to see India not just as a manufacturing hub, but as a global muse that blends ancestral techniques with superhuman technologies like Artificial Intelligence and advanced engineering.”
Mr. Ashish Borda, Convener, Promotions & Marketing, GJEPC, added, “Marketing in the modern era requires a narrative that resonates across generations. ‘Quantum Couture’ is our answer to a shifting consumer landscape where Gen Z and Boomers alike seek jewellery that is fluid, inclusive, and technologically brave. By pushing our designers to explore ‘augmented imagination,’ we are ensuring that the Indian jewellery industry remains at the forefront of the global cultural conversation, making traditional craft irresistible to the digital-native consumer.”
Quantum Couture is a future-forward design philosophy that views tradition as an evolving force rather than a fixed reference to the past. It reflects a world where jewellery moves beyond age, gender and rigid aesthetic codes, becoming a powerful form of self-expression for a fluid, modern society. The theme encourages designers to translate cultural memory through modern materials, advanced techniques and new storytelling approaches—creating jewellery that is wearable, relevant and emotionally resonant.
The broad theme of “Quantum Couture” explores the merging of craftsmanship and technology. From hand skills to digital tools, precision engineering and experimental materials, the theme throws open a canvas for innovation without losing the soul of craft. It positions jewellery not merely as ornament, but as an interface between culture, imagination and future-forward design.
The theme has three sub-categories:
QUANTUM COUTURE – EMBROIDERY: HERITAGE REWIRED THROUGH STRUCTURE AND LIGHT
This theme reinterprets traditional embroidery—lace, brocade, filigree and beadwork—into sculptural jewellery forms. The ‘thread’ is transformed into metal and gemstones, creating airy, layered compositions that balance lightness with structural complexity. Here’s a chance to unleash your creativity and convert couture textiles into jewellery structures that feel woven, layered and suspended. Filigree becomes a skeletal system. Jali work behaves like lace. Micro-setting and digital modeling allow volume without weight, complexity without excess. The textile-inspired elements can include brocade, crochet and lace cut-outs, reimagined in precious materials. Moreover, micro-pearl weaving, bejewelled nets, fluid tassels and fringes lend movement and lightness, while yellow gold and white metals form the structural base. The palette expands further with innovative, eco-conscious materials such as ceramic, carbon fibre and glass, bringing a contemporary edge to heritage-inspired craftsmanship.
QUANTUM COUTURE – MICRO-PAINTING: THE INTIMACY OF DETAIL IN THE AGE OF ACCELERATION
Celebrating slowness, precision and narrative depth, this direction focuses on techniques such as meenakari, jadau and miniature painting. Jewellery becomes a micro-canvas of storytelling, rich with symbolism and hidden details, where technology enhances artisanal expression rather than replacing it.
This design direction draws from time-honoured techniques such as the jadau, meenakari kundan enamelling, micro-mosaics and miniature paintings, where every surface becomes a canvas of detail. Engravings, carvings and openwork designs add depth and dimension, while rarified traditions like Thewa art bring luminous narrative to the fore. Elements such as hidden messages, secret jewels, hand painting, cameos and intaglios elevate each piece beyond ornamentation, transforming jewellery into intimate objects of meaning.
QUANTUM COUTURE – POETIC LAYERS: NATURE, MEMORY AND FORM IN DIMENSIONAL DIALOGUE
Inspired by organic forms and emotional landscapes, this direction explores layered, sculptural jewellery drawn from flora, fauna and natural textures. Designs play with depth, relief and contrast to create expressive, gender-fluid pieces that merge poetic craft with contemporary construction.
This design direction draws from nature’s poetry, expressed through bejewelled fauna and flora rendered in layered, sculptural forms. Techniques such as marquetry, engraving and carving, and fine filigree create depth and texture, while contrasting effects and coloured metals introduce visual drama. Fluid, wrapping silhouettes—including statement forms like the haath panja—bring movement and a contemporary sensibility. Accents of polki diamonds, enriched with meenakari kundan enamelling, anchor the pieces in tradition, reinterpreted through a modern, expressive design language.
Through Quantum Couture, The Artisan Awards 2026 continue to champion originality, technical excellence and design-led thinking, offering a prestigious platform for artisans and designers to shape the future of Indian jewellery.
Paola De Luca, futurist and curator of the Quantum Couture theme, will hold an online ARTISAN AWARDS 2026- MASTER CLASS on 23 January at 2.30 pm India time, offering interested participants a deep dive into the three distinct categories.
Join Zoom Meeting
https://gjepc.zoom.us/j/89545181610?pwd=or2ovbOFsbpNo1z6yI5hfHBdtWznk0.1
Designers and artisans are invited to submit their sketches along with the participation forms by 10th February 2026. Visit www.theartisanawards.com for details
For queries, email: artisanawards@gjepcindia.com