The American Gem Trade Association (AGTA) has announced the winners of the 2024 AGTA Spectrum & Cutting Edge Awards. This year marks 40 years of Spectrum Awards entries.
This year’s awards took place from 31 October to 1 November 2024. According to AGTA’s CEO John Ford, the association received 375 submissions, the exact same number of entries as last year, with a category distribution similar to last year. Evening Wear garnered the most entries at 75, and Men’s Wear had 27 entries, which reflected a slight increase. Engagement Ring category was new this year. “The 21 entries in it were just an explosion of vibrant colour and far outweighed my expectations. We are thrilled to see artists’ colourful takes in an area that has traditionally been reserved for diamonds. We also saw a substantial number of first-time entrants,” said Ford.
Trends among this year’s entries included tourmaline—particularly Paraiba and rubellite—as well as pink, purple, and orange gemstones; more finished jewellery with fantasy-cut or carved gemstones as focal points; oval gemstones; and moonstones in both loose goods in Cutting Edge entries and finished jewellery in Spectrum award.
This year also marks the first time that winners were named in the new Alfie Norville Women in Excellence Awards, sponsored by Allan Norville and the Norville family. These honours were given to one female entrant in each of the six Spectrum award categories, and all women who entered the AGTA Spectrum Awards were eligible.
Judges this year included Jean Francois Bibet; Sherry Bender of The Goldsmith, Chicago; Susan Jacques of the Gemological Institute of America (GIA); and Suzy Landa of Suzy Landa Fine Jewelry.
Kimberly Collins, owner of Kimberly Collins Colored Gems and president of the AGTA board of directors, said: “The calibre of the entries continues to increase annually, and the expertise of the judges wows us. I think everyone loved seeing the submissions in the new Engagement Ring category, as coloured gems in bridal are a growing segment of the market. I think some of the trends this year included jewells that convert for wear in different ways, multi- two- and three-stone rings, interchangeable centre stones, and more. I would like to thank our staff who work so hard on this competition every year, our judges who take time out of their busy schedules to be here, our editors and media who take beautiful pictures and offer smart commentary on all the entries, and the Spectrum committee who vets the judges to find those with the best integrity.”
Many of the winning pieces will be on display during the 2025 AGTA GemFair Tucson, during 3-9 February 2025. The AGTA Spectrum Gala is the highlight of 2025 Gem Week festivities and will take place on 8 February 2025, in the recent addition to the Tucson Convention Center.
We selected some highlights from the 2024 Spectrum and Cutting Edge awards. (Photo courtesy: AGTA)
14-11-2024
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