Jennifer Lam Wins GIA London Design Competition

Jennifer Lam's winning design, 'Oceanic'

GIA London recently named Jennifer Lam, a graduate of GIA London’s graduate gemologist program, as the winner of the H. Goldie Jewelry Design Competition. Lam received an award of £1,000 ($2,063) and a £500 ($1,031) trip to the European jewelry fair BaselWorld.

Lam’s winning “Oceanic” design was inspired by the sea and included a pendant and earring set constructed from 18 karat yellow gold, with a spread of melee diamonds ranging from 0.01 to 0.15 carats for accent.

According to Edward Johnson, director of GIA London, the H. Goldie competition will take place two to three times a year, depending on the number of Jewelry Design courses offered. The competition is sponsored by London-based diamond brokers H. Goldie & Co. Ltd., And Goldie International Ltd.

“Through H. Goldie’s generosity, this ongoing competition offers a valuable introduction to the gem and jewelry industry, with both a financial prize as well as a guided tour of BaselWorld,” said Johnson. “This competition is a wonderful opportunity for our Jewelry Design students.”

Contestants must submit a design for diamond jewelry in yellow and/or white gold, which can be either a pendant and earring set for women or cuff links and a tie bar or tie tack for men. Designs are evaluated on quality of painting, technique, design idea, and overall presentation.

Antwerp: Michielsen Launches Centenaire Diamond Cut

Diamond manufacturer Michielsen Manufacturing & Co., based in Antwerp, introduced a new diamond cut trademarked as the Centenaire cut.

With its round shape and 100 facets the Centenaire cut will guarantee the highest glittering and brilliance, which is never seen before in all other diamond cuts Michielsen concluded.

"As an aureole of sunrays the light will exit the diamond and with this it shows the characteristics of this very special diamond cut, which makes it recognizable from far," the company wrote in a statement.

"Even more than in other diamond cuts you will see the light in the Centenaire cut in all colors of the rainbow move from one facet to an other."

Due to its special cut that carries through from center to the edge, light reflection makes the diamond appear larger than a comparable brilliant cut, Michielseon contended.

"Because its special refraction, a diamond cut into the Centenaire cut will show a higher color than a comparable diamond cut in an other way. Even natural inclusions are, because of the many facets, more difficult to observe. All these pros make the Centenaire cut even more beautiful when used in a jewel."

The company supplies Centenaire cut with an IGI certificate from 0.30-carats on up.

Manak Couture Launches Rose Cut, Color Diamonds

Beverly Hills, California: Can't get enough of Rose Cut diamonds, or color diamonds on hoops and bangles, large candy-color rings and rainbow gold tones?

Manak Couture has launched several new extraordinary collections reflecting these new trends.

Some of the new designs display the company's ethnic Indian (Gem Palace) heritage, while others reflect everyday fine fashion jewelry.

All designs however do incorporate color, which is a key component of Manak Couture's product reputation.

Spelling Collection to Debut on HSN

Multichannel retailer HSN said Thursday that it has added Tori Spelling to its lineup with the debut of “The Tori Spelling Collection,” a jewelry line available exclusively at HSN. The actress and designer will introduce her collection on HSN and www.HSN.com on Tuesday as part of the company’s 30th birthday celebration.

The 12-piece collection includes necklaces, earrings, cuffs, and bracelets. The collection, which includes gold-tones and semi-precious stones, have prices ranging from $29 to $129.

The Tori Spelling Collection premieres on HSN on Tuesday at 1 a.m. and 8 p.m. EDT. The collection will also be available at www.hsn.com.

Jewelry company crafts platinum pink ribbon jewelry lures

MacDaddy’s, a manufacturer of precious metal and gemstone fishing lures and flies, has selected platinum as the signature medium for its new “Fishing for a Cure” breast cancer campaign. A solid platinum lure with a ribbon design in pink sapphires is the lead item in this year’s campaign. Matching earrings are available and the hooks are removable to allow the lure to be worn solely as jewelry.

The Arroyo Grande, Calif.-based company introduced its new platinum jeweled pink ribbon decorative lures at The JCK Show ~ Las Vegas. Ten percent of all sales will be donated to breast cancer research and recovery. The lure is crafted in platinum and gold, and encrusted with 100 carats of diamonds and rubies (4,753 stones in all). It was manufactured by Uneek, Fine Jewelry Collections.

“The nature of platinum, its purity and rarity, makes it the ideal medium for this charity campaign to help in the fight against breast cancer,” said Mac McBurney, co-founder of MacDaddy’s and the company’s chief jewelry designer. “I chose to design in platinum because of the eternal, enduring character of the metal, and its ability to provide an extremely secure setting for precious gemstones.”

In addition to the solid platinum lures, the company plans to offer a line of copies to allow participation in the campaign by patrons at lesser price levels. These include 14K gold lures with pink sapphires and sterling silver lures with pink cubic zirconia settings. Pricing for these versions is expected to begin at $49.95.