The Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) announced the winners of The Artisan Jewellery Design Awards 2019 with a grand ceremony held at the Royal Opera House in Mumbai on February 13th. The futuristic theme of the awards was ‘Enchanted Cosmos’. Actress Aditi Rao Hydari graced the momentous occasion and gave away the prizes.
The Artisan Awards received a total of 550 entries for the main competition, of which 23 pieces were shortlisted under the categories: Rings or Pendants; Brooches or Pins; Earrings or Bracelets.
The competition had an additional category of ‘Best Product Inventory at IIJS Signature 2019’, which received around 80 entries under eight jewellery segments: Daily Wear Diamond, Couture Diamond, Gold, Silver, Platinum, Coloured Gemstones, Kundan Meena and Pearls.
The Artisan Awards celebrate the highest levels of art, creativity and innovation by honouring the best talent in jewellery design and elevating designers to their rightful status of artists.
The main competition had three rounds of judging, starting with a technical round, a sketch round, and a finished product round. The selection was based on various predefined parameters such as design aesthetics, wearability, innovation, relevance to the theme, and makeability/manufacturing.
In his keynote address, GJEPC chairman Pramod Agrawal said, “The Indian gem and jewellery industry has a history of more than 5,000 years. The rajas and maharajas have supported this art, and we have a tradition of passing this skill from one generation to the next. We always had the advantage of skilled artisans and karigars when catering to global markets.
“Today, total gem and jewellery exports account for $42 billion annually. The industry contributes around 7% to India’s GDP and employs more than 5 million people. It’s time that the world is made aware of India’s jewellery design potential and we should portray the country as a design destination for jewellery. The Artisan Awards initiative is a sincere effort by the Council to encourage true design talent in the industry.”
GJEPC vice chairman Colin Shah added, “The importance of India in the global jewellery design context is growing to what it used to be historically when Indian influence on luxury jewellery was evidenced from the creations of Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels and Harry Winston for the maharajas and nawabs. Incidentally, GJEPC chose the theme of ‘Enchanted Cosmos’ for the Artisan Awards 2019 much before it became the design trend for the 2020 buying season. The theme helped designers explore the mysteries of galaxies and universes known and unknown.”
The juries consisted of eminent personalities from diverse walks of life, who gathered together to discuss, debate and deliberate on the creations submitted by young designers.
The technical committee included Prof. Dhiraj Kumar, head, IIGJ Jaipur; Sushama Sawant, faculty member, IIGJ Mumbai; Jimit Zaveri, designer, Kama Schachter; and Anand Shah, designer.
The first round of judging sketched entries was completed on January 3rd in Mumbai. The judges for this round were Bangalore-based jewellery designer Pallavi Foley, ace photographer Vishesh Verma, fashion designer Kallol Datta, Mumbai-based jewellery designer Anand Shah, and fashion consultant Nisha Jhangiani.
The designs were then manufactured and the finished pieces were judged by a final jury on February 5th. This jury consisted of fashion designers Monica and Karishma of Jade, blogger Prerna Malhotra, stylist Pernia Qureshi, Gemological Institute of America’s managing director of India and Middle East, Nirupa Bhatt, Diamond Producers Association’s India managing director Richa Singh, jewellery historian Dr. Usha Balakrishnan, and Ashraf Motiwala of AS Motiwala.
The judges for the ‘Best Product Inventory at IIJS Signature 2019’ were Chicago-based journalist Smitha Sadanandan, fashion stylist Nisha Jhangiani, Solitaire International & Adorn managing editor Shanoo Bijlani, and Singapore-based jewellery writer Richa Goyal Sikri.
Winners of The Artisan Awards 2019
CATEGORY I – RINGS / PENDANTS
1ST Mehul Gupta, Independent Designer (piece manufactured by Jewel Goldi
2ND Koushik Mondal, Tanvirkumar & Co.
3RD Deepika Pathya, Titan Company Ltd.
Finalist Biswarup Chakraborty, Independent Designer
(piece manufactured by Jewel Goldi)
Finalist Isha Deb, Bluestone Jewellery
Finalist Kamal Parui, Emerald Jewel India Ltd.
Finalist Laxmikanth Mestry, IIGJ Tardeo (piece manufactured by Vasupati Jewellers)
Finalist Twinkle Dhanesha, SDI-Bengaluru (piece manufactured by KP Sanghvi)
CATEGORY II – BROOCHES / PINS
1ST Mitali Kikani, H. Ajoomal Fine Jewellery
2ND Aashna Chaudhary, Titan Company Ltd.
3RD Jayshree Tupe, A’Star Jewellery
Finalist Rakesh Bhowmik, Tanvirkumar & Co.
Finalist Sanskruti Serrao, PNG Jewellers Ltd.
Finalist V. Saravanan, Titan Company Ltd.
CATEGORY III – EARRINGS / BRACELETS
1ST Soukata Basu Malhotra, Independent Designer,
Australia (piece manufactured by Anand Shah)
2ND Soumyajit Maity, Priority Jewels Ltd.
3RD Yash Pandey, IIGJ Delhi (piece manufactured by Anand Shah)
Finalist Aaheli Datta, Titan Company Ltd.
Finalist Aashna Chaudhary, Titan Company Ltd.
Finalist Bhavana Jain, Kama Schachter
Finalist Hariharan T.S., Titan Company Ltd.
Finalist Harsona J. Choksi, Sangam Jewels Gold
Finalist Urvi Bansal, B.K. Saraf Jewellers (piece manufactured by Gold Artism)
Best Product Inventory at IIJS Signature 2019
DAILY WEAR DIAMOND JEWELLERY
1ST Shree Fine Jewels Pvt. Ltd.
2ND Zundaa
3RD Sphere
GOLD JEWELLERY
1ST Sawansukha Jewellers
2ND Gold Artism
PLATINUM
1ST Pure Platinum
KUNDAN MEENA JEWELLERY
1ST V.M. Ornaments
2ND Vasupati Jewellers India Pvt. Ltd.
COUTURE DIAMOND JEWELLERY
1ST Tibarumal
2ND Manak Diamonds
3RD Splurge
SILVER JEWELLERY
1ST R.K. Silver & Gold
COLOURED GEMSTONES JEWELLERY
1ST Tara Fine Jewels
2ND Sanskriti Jewels
3RD Birdhichand Ghanshyamdas
PEARL JEWELLERY
1ST Manoj Ornaments