After Middleton’s sudden death on Friday 25 July, Expertise Events managing director Gary Fitz-Roy announced that there would be an “Ann Middleton Award” at next year’s Jewellery Industry Awards (JIA); the JIA celebrates the people that make up the industry.
“Ann was one of our judges for the inaugural event in 2014 and we’re really proud of the association, albeit short, that we had with her,” Fitz-Roy said. “We want what she has contributed to be an ongoing legacy.”
Middleton, who established Middleton’s Fine Jewellery on the Gold Coast in Queensland, was well known for the individual pieces she designed and created for celebrities, royalty and heads of state.
Clients included former United States president Bill Clinton, Australian Olympic gold medallists Ian Thorpe and Giaan Rooney, and author and former model Tara Moss. She was also a philanthropist, having donated several of her jewellery designs to Olivia Newton-John’s cancer charity.
Middleton was the recipient of multiple awards, both local and international, including the De Beers Diamonds International Award. Her services to the local jewellery industry were also recognised when she was presented with the medal of the Order of Australia in June 2006.
Fitz-Roy described Middleton as a “quiet achiever”, despite her numerous accomplishments. “She just got on with it, without making a big deal of it,” he said.
The JIA was designed to recognise the people and businesses that make up the jewellery industry, as opposed to other award programs that focus on the design and aesthetics of individual jewellery pieces. As such, Fitz-Roy said that it “only made sense” to honour a jeweller who had had so many achievements within the industry.
“We’re now looking at what would best reflect Ann’s attributes and contribution to the industry to ensure the JIA award matches that,” he said.
The Courier Mail reported that Middleton, aged 62, “beat ovarian cancer two years ago but had spent the past two years living in excruciating pain following severe nerve damage”.
The newspaper reported she fell to her death on Friday night from a Surfers Paradise high-rise apartment block.
The inaugural JIA was held in March this year during the Gold Coast Australian Jewellery Fair. Details for the 2015 event have yet to be released.
Ann's famous clientele