According to Diamond Guild Australia (DGA) executive officer Melissa James, the calibre of entries in 2013 were of exceptional standard and raised the bar of the biennial awards program to “new heights”.
Two additional categories, Emerging Talent and Daily Diamonds, were also included in this year’s competition.
Robert Musson of Musson Jewellers took home four awards, including Daily Diamonds, Fancy Shape and Solitaire. Musson was also awarded the inaugural Supreme award for his dress ring titled, “Origin”.
The Supreme award was presented for the winning piece that scored the most points during the judging process.
Musson said he was extremely surprised to have been recognised for so many categories.
“I thought perhaps we might have done well in the Solitaire category but had no idea about the others. It’s a great honour and I’m very fortunate,” he explained.
Musson’s winning pieces, along with the trophies, are currently on display at the Musson Jewellers store located in the Queen Victoria Building in Sydney.
Furthermore, the coveted Red Carpet award went to James Ballas of Steven James Jewellers for a necklace named “Petaloudes”. The piece featured a collection of butterflies sculptured from 18-carat white, yellow, rose and green gold that were accented with 970 diamonds.
York Jewellers’ Matthew Ely and Steve Der Bedrossian from Pink Kimberley took out the Fancy Colour award for their 18-carat “Illoura” white gold ring set with pink and blue coloured diamonds, while Varoujan Djevahirdjian from Varoujan Jewellers won the Gents award for a white gold ring titled, “Emporer”.
Steve Der Bedrossian, managing director of Pink Kimberley, explained his involvement in the awards.
“Each year we look at many talented jewellery designers amongst our Pink Kimberley stockists and consider who can best match the rarity and quality of our diamonds, with equally rare and distinguished talent. Matthew stands out for us in this regard.
“I didn’t hesitate to partner with Matthew and York Jewellers on this piece, as I knew he would do a truly outstanding job with the diamonds we provided for the design and our confidence was well placed. I’d like to thank Matthew for taking on the challenge and committing the time and effort to create this master piece,” Der Bedrossian said.
Rounding out the winners was Kirra-Lea Caynes from Stephen Dibb Jewellery who won the Emerging Talent award for her piece “Bubbles”, a white gold arm cuff featuring rose and yellow gold domes that were highlighted with black ruthenium arches and grain-set diamonds.
A panel of five judges working in jewellery and design disciplines judged this year’s DGA awards. Judges included fashion designer Carla Zampatti; CEO of Good Design Australia and chair of the Australian International Design Awards, Dr Brandon Gien; jewellery photographer David Perryman; editor for Qantas in-flight magazine
The Australian Way, Susan Skelly; and jewellery designer John Calleija.
Established in 2005, the awards are open to all designers and jewellers working within an Australian retail jewellery business. There were more than 45 entries this year.
Background readingDiamond Guild Awards finalists revealedDiamond Guild competition opens