Award winners honoured at jewellery fair

Posted March 03, 2015 | By Stephanie Chan • Staff Journalist

Winners of the Jewellery Industry Awards have been announced at a ceremony held in conjunction with the Gold Coast jewellery fair.

Now in its second year, the Jewellery Industry Awards (JIAs) again honoured jewellery retailers and suppliers that had demonstrated outstanding service and made significant contributions to the industry across four categories.

Recipients (full list below) were presented with their awards on Saturday 28 February during a gala event at the Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre.

Gary Fitz-Roy, managing director of awards organiser Fair Events, explained that the JIA program recognised the people behind the industry.

“It’s one thing to design and make jewellery but that is only as good as the suppliers and retailers that support their customers. It is they who are the very grassroots fabric of the industry,” he said.

Shiree Hobson and Jo Saxelby-Balisky, To Hold & To Have co-founders

While the winners in three categories were determined by industry vote, an independent judging panel decided the award recipients in the fourth category.

Judges included Nicola Cerrone, managing director of Cerrone; TAFE jewellery manufacturing teacher Jane Foster; and jewellery designer Rhys Turner, who won the Jeweller of the Year and Coloured Gemstone categories at the 2014 JAA Australasian Jewellery Awards.

A different kind of award

Jo Saxelby-Balisky – co-founder of Sunshine Coast business To Hold & To Have, and winner of this year’s best small jewellery retailer award – said it was important for initiatives like the JIA to exist alongside other competitions that focused on design.

“It recognises who we are on a daily basis and the broader scope of how we run our business and how we serve our clients and the jewellery industry – not just the hands-on quality of our work,” she explained. “It reflects our relationships within our community and our industry.”

Townsville-based Jewellery By Design (JBD) was the only retailer to have won two awards – one for the best enduring jewellery product as well as the Jewellery Industry Marketing award. Business manager Bevan Hill said the team at JBD were always happy to support the industry and that it was wonderful to be recognised for their efforts.

Bevan Hill, Jewellery By Design business manager

JBD’s ‘Dream It, Draw It, Win It’ marketing campaign involved a competition with an aim of “giving back to the customer”. It encouraged consumers to submit a sketch of their dream jewellery design, and one entry – selected by an independent panel of judges – was manufactured by JBD and presented to the winning entrant.

Fitz-Roy added that the JIAs aligned well with the concept of the Gold Coast jewellery fair: “It’s about face-to-face contact and recognition. We believe very strongly in them.”

The winner of the inaugural Outstanding Contribution Award, which was introduced in honour of the late Ann Middleton, will be announced in August at the JAA International Jewellery Fair in Sydney.

2015 Jewellery Industry Award winners

Best large jewellery retailer: Pure Envy Jewellery
Best small jewellery retailer: To Hold & To Have
Best retail window/merchandise display: Blennerhassett Fine Jewellers
Best enduring jewellery product: Jewellery By Design
Best new jewellery product: Uberkate
Best after-sales service: Peter W Beck
Jewellery industry marketing award: Jewellery By Design for ‘Dream It, Draw It, Win It’
Industry innovation award: Nugent and Andrea Jewellers
Best jewellery supplier: Chemgold
Best jewellery manufacturer: Palloys
Best sales representative: Renee Siros, Bolton Gems