The American Gem Trade Association (AGTA) announced the winners of the 2023 AGTA Spectrum & Cutting Edge Awards. This year’s competition took place from 24-25 October in Dallas.
AGTA said that entries to this year’s competition were 24% greater than last year, with a 28% increase in the Business/Day Wear category and a 26% increase in the Evening Wear category.
AGTA observed that, as expected, there were numerous Sapphires and Sapphire gems in the competition. Other notable trends featured Tourmaline, Garnet (with many tsavorite Garnet-accented pieces), enamelled jewels, cabochon-cut gems, natural Pearls, and finished jewels with fantasy-cut or carved gems as central elements.
“This year’s Awards are one of our best ever,” says CEO John W. Ford Sr., who has now been at the helm of AGTA for over a year. “We had an additional 100 entries this year over last, and many of them had stunning green and blue-green gems.”
Judges this year included Allan Koo, A. Koo & Co.; Brent Malgarin, Elegant Gems, Ltd.; Christina Gandia Gambale, Greenwich St. Jewelers; Lika Behar, Lika Behar Jewelry; and Clayton Bromberg, Underwood’s Jewelers (Jacksonville, Fla.).
Many of the winning pieces will be on display during the 2024 AGTA GemFair Tucson, from 30th January to 4th February 2024.