The awards ceremony is the highlight of the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) International Jewellery Show. The Champion of Champions competition features winners of jewellery design competitions from around the world.
Neuman owns Mondial by Nadia, based in Sydney, and was crowned the winner as the creator of Kaleidoscope. The 18-carat yellow and white gold pendant features 32-carats of fancy colour and white diamonds.
Entering the competition for the first time, Neuman said it was an opportunity to showcase the immense beauty the Australian landscape is capable of creating.
“I’ve always wanted to create a kaleidoscope because it's a beautiful way to display the natural play of fancy colour diamonds,” Neuman told Jeweller.
“It took around six months together to complete. It was an interesting process because it needed to function correctly – there’s no point in making a kaleidoscope if it doesn’t actually work!
“Once we had a working prototype, I realised that it wasn’t the most appealing shape for a competition piece. From there, the piece took a life of its own and evolved into something bigger involving different components that you can take off and remove, so it’s interchangeable.”
Kaleidoscope features diamonds in polished and rough forms. By looking through the piece and rotating the baguette-set base, the viewer can see the changing patterns made by the loose diamonds as they turn within.
The diamonds were sourced from the Argyle and Ellendale mines in Western Australia and Neuman said that selecting the stones to create an optimal composition was a rewarding experience.
“Everybody has their sense of balance and proportion and their idea of what is aesthetically pleasing to them,” she explained.
“When you have a complicated piece of this nature, the colours and tones must fuse together well, so that it’s easy on the eye, flows well, and the design is consistent in style.
“I’ve loved rough diamonds since my mother created her collection of rough diamond jewellery in the 1980s. I grew up fascinated with these diamonds, knowing that they’re billions of years old and from the core of the Earth.
“Ensuring that this was a piece of art that brings out the best of the stones and materials was a rewarding challenge and I’m very fortunate to be able to spend my time creating beautiful pieces.”
Neuman faced tough competition, with other finalists coming from Taiwan, Hong Kong, Russia, China, Iran, Australia and the UK. The Champion of Champions trophy was created by renowned jewellery designer Wallace Chan.
Kaleidoscope is currently on display at the Mondial by Nadia store in The Strand Arcade in Sydney.
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