The biennial awards, held in conjunction with IJWF, recognise Australian and New Zealand design and manufacture across jewellers, apprentices and students. The competition has 10 categories including awards for diamond, opal and pearl jewellery, as well as men’s and bridal jewellery.
As usual, an expert panel will whittle down the finalists in a blind judging process, marking them on theme, use of materials, retail presentation and commercial viability. These finalists will then have the opportunity to showcase their work with an interactive display at the IJWF 2019.
The winners will be announced on Sunday 25 August with a canapé reception at the trade show, which is set to take place at Sydney’s ICC Exhibition Centre.
While the prize list is yet to be announced, the previous awards – held in 2017 – boasted a prize pool of $80,000, including business-class flights to Basel and four nights’ accommodation in the Swiss city to attend Baselworld.
At the time of publication the Jewellers Association of Australia (JAA) did not or could not confirm whether its biennial design awards, the JAA Australasian Jewellery Awards, will proceed this year. The 2017 ceremony was held during Showcase Jewellers’ annual members’ dinner, with prizes including a $10,000 education grant and a trip to Hong Kong.
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