ANTWERP, Belgium, Sept. 18 /PRNewswire-Asia/ -- Against the backdrop of a fairy tale, the 2009 HRD Awards diamond jewellery design contest organised by Antwerp World Diamond Centre reached its climax today, with the announcement of a winner and four finalists.
Taking the top prize in the competition was Isabelle Geeroms (45) of Belgium. Her entry "Mirror Mirror on my hand" is a ring made out of white gold and ceramics. Her inspiration comes from the fairy tale 'Snow white and the seven dwarfs'. With a handful of frailness, she disposed dazzling diamonds in the mirror, symbolising the yearning for passion and tenderness. The 114 diamonds with a total weight of 10,28 carats, are provided by Luc Vets Diamant. The jewel itself is sponsored by Gemsset.
Finalist Thitiwan Thubtimthong (28), Thailand, created the jewel "Beyond Imagination" out of a 30 meter chain, using an amazing technique to design many small objects, the fruit of her own imagination. Based upon the definition of a fairy tale -- we don't know exactly when the story begins and ends -- this very long necklace contains many far fetched stories and is set with 595 brilliant-cut diamonds, 38 champagne coloured diamonds, 2 pink diamonds and one gold coloured diamond with a total weight of 9,11 carats. The diamonds are provided by Om Diamond Co Ltd, the jewel is sponsored by Ariha Diamond Jewellery Co, Ltd.
Finalist Cari-Mari Wilsenach (32), South Africa, turned to the story of Hans Christian Andersen "The Ugly Duckling". Her "Hidden Beauty" bracelet refers to this story in both the use of its medium, the stark contrast between black and white feathers and the concept, as it explores the process of becoming in the technical element of opening and closing. As the piece unfolds, it changes in shape and colour, revealing an inner beauty of sparkling diamonds, set amongst pure white feathers. It is set with 700 brilliant-cut diamonds, with a total weight of 7 carats. The diamonds are provided by Casa Gi.
South Korean finalist Guerina Yoo (38) is fascinated by the history of jewellery design and its cultural aspects. She created a head jewel based upon the Korean fairy tale "The Woodsman and the Fairy". In Korea the hair accessories for brides on their wedding day are made of yellow gold. But instead, the artist chose dark bamboo to depict a sad bride forced to marry. The veil attached to the bamboo stick symbolizes the robe of feathers, set with 506 brilliant-cut diamonds, with a total weight of 15,62 carats, provided by Gembel European Sales NV. The jewel is sponsored by Soon-Young Lee.
35 year old Lithuanian Viktoras Sitalo crafted a ring "A Kiss of the Sunbeam' inspired by the fairy tale of Hans Christian Andersen "The Conceited Apple -Branch". The ring interprets the story of Andersen. "See, she exclaimed, how wonderfully God has made this little flower. I will paint it with the apple branch together..... Then the sunbeam kissed the lowly flower and he kissed the blooming apple branch upon whose leaves appeared a rosy blush". The jewel, in white gold, encloses 181 brilliant cut diamonds with a total weight of 5, 43 carats. The diamonds are provided by Vets Alphi Diamond Manufacturing NV.
The five finalist designers, in the opinion of the jurors, presented pieces that demonstrated the artist's excellence, and scored high in terms of innovation, enthusiasm and craftsmanship. First and foremost, they reflected the spirit of the 2009 competition's theme "Once upon a time...my favourite fairy tale".
The HRD Awards contest is considered by many insiders to be the premiere diamond jewellery design competition in the world, with focus on extravagance and avant-garde. Launched in 1984 as the "Antwerp Diamond High Council Awards," with the aim of enhancing creativity and design excellence in contemporary diamond jewellery in Belgium, in 2003 it went international. The designs reaching the final round in this 13th edition were submitted by artists from Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, France, India, Italy, Japan, Lithuania, South Korea, Thailand and USA. The 39 designs that reached the final round were themselves selected from 1089 designs prepared by 654 artists from 40 countries.
The competition jury, which met in Antwerp on May 29, to reach its final decision, reflected the cosmopolitan and multi-cultural spirit of the contest. The artistic world was represented in the jury by professors Max De Cock, professor at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp and Zou Ningxin from the Beijing University for Clothing technology in China. The jewellery sector was in attendance through the presence of Georges Cuyvers, and Katrin Wouters and Karen Hendrix from Antwerp. The auction houses designated Jo Hardy from Sotheby's London and Raymond Sancroft-Baker, London. Ann De Meulemeester, Kaat Tilley and Johanne Riss provided a perspective from the field of fashion and jewellery design. Rounding out the list were Didier Brodbeck and Peter Thijs, Editors in Chief of the trade publication Diamond Dreams, Paris, France and Label. Jewels & Watches, Antwerp.
"Today we once again proved that the HRD Awards is the world's most exciting and innovative diamond jewellery design contest," said Freddy J. Hanard, CEO of the Antwerp World Diamond Centre. "In the jewellery business, all roads lead to Antwerp, and this clearly was demonstrated by many cutting-edge designs that flowed into our offices over the past year. As the HRD Awards Collection 2009 begins its global tour at the beginning in September -- it will be exposed at the Antwerp diamond museum until then -- people from all over the world will be able to appreciate what we already know here in Antwerp."
Ronaldo Clemente Buensalida, United Arab Emirates, created the jewel "The Promise". It's a ring that is based on the story "the beauty and the beast". The beast does make an appearance but only in the beauty's dreams. In her dreams, the beast reproaches her for leaving him. Beauty then realises that she loves him, and that broken "promise" has broken the Beast's heart. She returns to the beast, professes her love and agrees to marry him and they lived happily ever after. Life is truly lived when you are motivated by conflict and love. The left part of the ring represents the castle of the beast, the right part of the ring represents the rose given by the father to beauty. The whole ring symbolizes the vow and "promise" and the black and the white motif or code is forever magical. The diamonds are provided by Eurostar Diamond Traders NV. The jewel itself is sponsored by La Marquise Diamonds & Watches, Brilliant Diamond LLC.
Xiaowen Miao, China, created the head jewel "Conch's Wedding". A magical love between the conch fairy and the fisherman. The conch fairy admired the hard working fisherman, so she secretly left the sea shrine. She was the embodiment of a conch and came to help him with the housework. She fell in love with the fisherman and they married.
It is custom in ancient Chinese weddings for the bride to wear a piece of red silk covering her face. The designer pictured her that half of her face is covered to show the happiness and shyness of the bride. The materials are diamonds, silver clay, stainless steel and ABS (plastic). The diamonds are provided by Drybooms Diamonds NV, the jewel is sponsored by University of Shanghai for Science and Technology.
Yuka Okina, Japan, turned to the story of "Rapunzel" with a hair ornament. Rapunzel's long golden hair drops down from the top of the tower and is used as a ladder. To meet her, the prince climbed up by her hair. The hair ornament expresses bewitching beauty by using diamonds. Their brilliancy symbolises a fantastic world. The designer used besides diamonds also yellow gold, white gold, nylon wire and soft stitch string covered with gold colour paper. The diamonds are provided by M.S.D. NV. The jewel is sponsored by Sakaguchi & Co. Ltd.
Gaelle Sasko - Marie, France, is fascinated by the history of 'the snow queen' called "Bibi Givre". The snow queen is a story about a woman who is very lonely and sad. That's why she is pictured like a very beautiful women, sparkling with snow crystals and a mysterious inner light. The fact that she couldn't feel the cold from the snow, inspired the designer to imagine the snow as a weightless white fur coat. The crown is covered with diamonds. This "bibi" of white gold, white fur and diamonds is a crown of snow, ice and light. The diamonds are provided by Saraff Manufacturer Belgium BVBA. The jewel is sponsored by Bermudes.
Valerie Wyn from Belgium made a beautiful necklace. It's based on the story of the "Tin Soldiers". Once there were 25 tin soldiers, who were all brothers, for they had been made out of the same old tin spoon. They shouldered arms and looked straight before them and wore a splendid uniform, red and blue. The soldiers were all exactly alike, except one, who had only one leg; he had been left to the last and then there was not enough tin melted to finish him, so they made him to stand firmly on one leg, and this caused him to be very remarkable. The necklace is made from diamonds and silver. The diamonds are provided by IGC Group NV. The jewel is sponsored by P.C. Boschmans NV, E. Van Ranst & Zonen BVBA.
For more information, please contact:
Jennie Baeten T: +32 (0) 3 222 05 40 - E : jennie.baeten@awdc.be
http://www.awdc.be , http://www.hrdawards.com
About AWDC
The Antwerp World Diamond Centre (AWDC) is the official representative of the Belgian diamond sector, charged with managing the relationship between the diamond sector and government, and promoting the interests of the Belgian diamond industry worldwide. The Antwerp diamond sector generates 34,000 jobs in direct and indirect employment. Total diamond imports and exports represented 45 billion USD in 2008. 80% of the rough diamonds and 50% of the polished diamonds worldwide pass through Antwerp.
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