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MJSA Picks 14 Vision-Award Winners
Jun 5, 2019 8:27 AM
By Rapaport News
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RAPAPORT... Fourteen jewelry designers have
received the Manufacturing Jewelers & Suppliers of America (MJSA) Vision
Award, which this year includes a new category for enamel distinction.
The prizes, which honor outstanding creativity, craftsmanship and technological prowess, are given to
both professionals and students, the trade body said Tuesday. Winners receive
cash and gift certificates for tools and supplies, as well as scholarships in the case of students. They will also be profiled in the MJSA Journal, and receive
promotion through ads in industry media. The winning entries will go on
display at the annual MJSA Expo in New York.
The 2019
winners of the Vision Awards are:
First Place, Professional Excellence, Four
Years in Business:
Mark Schneider of Mark Schneider Design in Long Beach, California, for his
platinum and 18-karat yellow-gold men’s band featuring a 0.70-carat tsavorite
garnet, 1.01 carats of black diamonds and 0.69 carats of canary yellow diamonds.
Second Place, Professional Excellence, Four
Years in Business:
Rosario Garcia of Rosario Garcia Designs in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, for a
floral-pattern ring fabricated and engraved by hand. It features a natural
sphene as its center stone, with accents of granulation and diamond “dewdrops.”
Honorable Mention, Professional Excellence, Four Years in
Business:
Anna Berezina of Svet Kamney in
Moscow, for an opal and chrome-diopside ring made of recycled silver, with
gold- and rhodium-plated accents.
First Place, Professional Excellence, One to Three
Years in Business:
Sabina Wong of Sabina Wong in Richmond, British Columbia, Canada, for The
Lotus. Made of 18-karat white gold with topaz, sapphire and green garnet
gemstones, the brooch contains four levels — the lily pad and three layers
of petals —
and a mechanism that enables the petals to open and close.
Second Place, Professional Excellence, One to Three
Years in Business:
Oksana Lerman of Rock Lily Collection in Brooklyn, New York, for a handmade
necklace of white baroque cultured pearls encrusted with 14-karat balls and 14-karat
diamond-set stars. All of the elements were set with silver pins to enhance the
“stars in the sky” effect.
Laser Distinction:
Andrew Costen of Costen Catbalue Goldsmiths & Designs in Vancouver, British
Columbia, Canada, for his Gold Nugget photo pendant. Created using both
traditional techniques and modern laser technologies, this pendant commemorates
a client’s father: It incorporates gold from a nugget chain her father
purchased in the Yukon, as well as a laser-engraved photo of him taken in the
1940s.
Custom Design Distinction:
Tom Heyman of Oscar Heyman & Brothers in New York City for his Seven Heirs
Suite. Composed of platinum and 18-karat gold with multiple gems, jackets and
ornaments, the convertible collection was commissioned with the intent that the
pieces would eventually be split among the client’s heirs. Built around four
white diamonds, a fancy-intense-yellow diamond, a sapphire and a pink sapphire,
the collection can become a necklace with two front pieces, two rings, a
pendant and a brooch.
Custom Design Distinction, Honorable Mention:
Llyn Strong of Llyn Strong Fine
Art Jewelry in Greenville, South Carolina, for a cuff bracelet made of sterling
infused with gold dust, 22-karat wire, tanzanite, and diamonds. Created for a
musician who had a deep personal connection to the hymn “Amazing Grace,” the
cuff features the song’s first notes on a musical staff.
Responsible Practices Distinction:
Susan Crow of East Fourth Street Jewelry in Northfield, Minnesota, for her
Amphitrite Necklace. Named after the Greek ocean goddess, the necklace is made
entirely of responsibly sourced materials: an 18-karat Fairmined yellow-gold
clasp, certified CanadaMark diamonds and a responsibly mined Brazilian
aquamarine purchased from Robert Bentley Gemstones.
Enamel Distinction:
Merry-Lee Rae of Merry-Lee Rae in
Freedom, California, for her brooch featuring the head of a
cloisonné cougar.
First Place, Future of the Industry Award (for
students):
Timo Krapf, a BFA student at the Rochester Institute of Technology in
Pittsford, New York, for his organically looping silver-and-leather-cord ring.
Second Place, Future of the Industry Award
(Tie):
Wonhee Kim, a student at the Gemological Institute of America in Carlsbad,
California, for a sterling and 18-karat gold pendant inspired by the imperial eggs of Fabergé: Created with four hinged pieces, the pendant’s egg-shaped exterior opens to
reveal a gold egg, which itself opens onto a blue topaz.
Jiyeon Kang, a student at the
Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City, for her “Hidden” three-finger
hinge ring that can be worn on one or three fingers. When opened, the ring
reveals a sterling ball decorated with colorful cubic zirconia.
Honorable Mention, Future of the Industry Award:
Marina Kim, a student at George
Brown College in Toronto, for her 18-karat yellow-gold Labyrinth ring, with a
lapis-lazuli cabochon set in the middle of a labyrinthine pattern.
Image: Merry-Lee Rae’s winning piece in the enamel-distinction category. (Manufacturing Jewelers & Suppliers of America)
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Tags:
Andrew Costen, Manufacturing Jewelers & Suppliers of America, Mark Schneider, Merry-Lee Rae, MJSA, Rapaport News, Sabina Wong, Susan Crow, Timo Krapf, Tom Heyman, Vision Award
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