Winners have been named in the 2004 AGTA Spectrum Awards competition hosted by the American Gem Trade Association.

The competition was held Oct. 31-Nov. 2 in New York City. Judges included Alan Friedman, Alan Friedman Co., Beverly Hills, Calif.; John Hatleberg, Big Gems, New York; Michael Ridding, Silverhorn, Santa Barbara, Calif.; Mark Schneider, Schneider Design Studio, Long Beach, Calif.; and Carrie Soucy, JCK magazine, King of Prussia, Pa.

Entries in the AGTA Spectrum Awards were judged on the basis of overall beauty, wearability, innovative design, effective use of materials, quality of gemstones, quality of workmanship, broad-base consumer appeal, and potential to generate positive publicity for natural colored gemstones. Spectrum Award categories included Evening, Business/Day, Casual, Bridal, and Men’s Wear.

AGTA Cutting Edge Awards honor excellence and creativity of the lapidary arts, including natural colored gemstones and cultured pearls, carvings, other gem materials and objects of art in North America. Categories included: Classic Gemstone, Faceting, Carving, Combination, and Pairs & Suites.

All designs that qualified for the Spectrum Awards competition were considered for Manufacturing Honors. This award celebrates outstanding use of colored gemstones and cultured pearls in jewelry appropriate to be manufactured in production quantities.

PGI Platinum Honors were awarded for innovative jewelry designs incorporating a minimum of 75% of the designs metal(s) in either 90% or 95% platinum. The design could also incorporate gold accents. Entries meeting these requirements were automatically qualified for “Platinum Honors” judging by the Platinum Guild International USA.

After judges reviewed 564 submissions of jewelry and lapidary designs, winners were selected in the following categories:

Dalan Hargrave from Dust Devil Mining in Spring Branch, Texas took “Best of Show” with a Sunstone, Diamond and Moldavite “Celestial City” carving. The combined weight was approximately 91 cts.

Steven Wright from American Jewelry Artworks in London, Ontario Canada took “Best Use Of Color” with an 18K yellow gold and platinum necklace featuring 21.25 ct. Aquamarine, 10.7 ct. Topaz, 10.10 ct. Citrine, 9.05 ct. Rubellite Tourmaline and Diamond accents.

SPECTRUM AWARDS

Bridal Wear
“First Place – Bridal Division” Safdie Basta from E. Eichberg Inc., Beverly Hills, Calif.
“Second Place – Bridal Division” Barbara M. Berk from Barbara Berk Designs, Foster City, Calif.
“Third Place – Bridal Division” Lee Charles Buckingham for Neiman Marcus, Dallas.

Business Wear
“First Place – Business/Day Wear Division” Jack Demerjian from J. Demere Designs, Livonia, Mich.
“Second Place – Business/Day Wear Division” Llyn Strelau from Jewels by Design, Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
“Third Place – Business/Day Wear Division” Yaroslav Shukel from Aurora Studio, Boston

Casual Wear
“First Place – Casual Division” Lisa Nolta from Gabrielle Ferrar, Chico, Calif.
“Second Place – Casual Division” Garo Demirjian from Demirjian Jewelry Design, Scottsdale, Ariz.
“Third Place – Casual Division” Marya Dabrowski from Marya Dabrowski, Inc., Providence, R.I.
“Honorable Mention- Casual Division” Safdie Basta from E. Eichberg Inc., Beverly Hills, Calif.
“Honorable Mention- Casual Division” Mark Loren from Mark Loren Designs, Inc., Ft. Myers, Fla.

Evening Wear
“First Place – Evening Division” George Kocsis for Spectrum Gems Inc., New York City
“Second Place – Evening Division” Zoltan David from Zoltan David Precious Metal Art, Austin, Texas
“Third Place – Evening Division” Jack Demerjian, J. Demere Designs, Livonia, Mich.
“Honorable Mention – Evening Division” Anita Dickey from Simplisity Co., Dallas

Men’s Wear
“First Place – Men’s Division” David Trout from Coffin & Trout, Chandler, Ariz.
“Second Place – Men’s Division” Helen Shved from Helen Shved, New York City
“Third Place – Men’s Division” William S. Holman from William S. Holman Design Group, Inc., Dallas

MANUFACTURING HONORS

“Manufacturing Honors – Bridal Division” Yaroslav Shukel from Aurora Studio, Boston
“Manufacturing Honors – Business/Day Wear Division” in Scott Keating from Scott Keating Design, Aspen, Colo.
“Manufacturing Honors- Casual Division” Jane Wullbrandt from Jane Wullbrandt Designs, Inc., Atlanta
“Manufacturing Honors- Evening Division” Philip H. Stone from Hyde Park Jewelers, Denver
“Manufacturing Honors – Men’s Division” William Richey from William Richey Designs, Portland, Ore.

CUTTING EDGE AWARDS

Open Category – Classic Gemstone Division
“First Place – Classic Gemstone Division” Allen Kleiman from A. Kleiman & Co., Boulder, Colo.
“Second Place – Classic Gemstone Division” Michael Arnstein from Walter Arnstein, Inc., New York City
“Third Place – Classic Gemstone Division” Joseph Ambalu from Amba Gem Corp., New York City
“Honorable Mention – Classic Gemstone Division” Joseph Ambalu from Amba Gem Corp., New York

Open Category – All Other Faceted Gemstones Division
“First Place – All Other Faceted Gemstones Division” Ben Kho from Kho International Ltd., Decatur, Ga.
“Second Place – All Other Faceted Gemstones Division” Darrell Jang from Darrell Jang, San Rafael, Calif.
“Third Place – All Other Faceted Gemstones Division” Hemant Phophaliya from A G Color Inc., New York City

Open Category – Phenomenal Gemstones Division
“First Place – Phenomenal Gemstones Division” Jeffrey Bilgore from Jeffrey Bilgore LLC,
“Second Place – Phenomenal Gemstones Division” David Cohen from Rafco International Gem Corp., New York City
“Third Place – Phenomenal Gemstones Division” Allen Kleiman from A. Kleiman & Co., Bolder, Colo.

Faceting Division “First Place – Faceting Division” John Dyer from Precious Gemstones Co., Eau Claire, Wisc.
“Second Place – Faceting” Arthur Lee Anderson from Arthur Lee Anderson/GemArts, Fredericksburg, Virg.
“Third Place – Faceting” David Brackna from David Brackna, Gemcutter, Germantown, Md.
“Honorable Mention – Faceting” Bobbie Lorett from Originals by Bobbie, Pine, Colo.

Carving Division
“First Place – Carving Division” Dalan Hargrave from Gemstarz , Spring Branch, Texas.
“Second Place – Carving Division” Michael M. Dyber from Ledge Art Studio, Rumney, N.H.
“Third Place – Carving Division” Dalan Hargrave from Dust Devil Mining, Spring Branch, Texas.

Combination Division
“First Place – Combination Division” Andrew Gulij from Gemfix, Big Bear City, Calif.
“Second Place – Combination Division” Larry Woods from Jewels From The Woods, Blanco, Texas.
“Third Place – Combination Division” Larry C. Winn from AJS Enterprises, Inc., Grand Junction, Colo.
“Honorable Mention – Combination Division” Dalan Hargrave from Gemstarz, Spring Branch, Texas.

Pairs and Suites Division
“First Place – Pairs and Suites Division” Matt Casteen from Matt Casteen, Raleigh, N.C.
“Second Place – Pairs and Suites Division” Larry Woods from Jewels From The Woods, Blanco, Texas
“Third Place – Pairs and Suites Division” John Dyer from Precious Gemstones Co., Eau Claire, Wisc.
“Honorable Mention – Pairs and Suites Division” Andrew Gulij from Gemfix, Big Bear City, Calif.

Objects of Art Division
“First Place – Objects of Art Division” Ralph Wobito from Wobito Gems Ltd., Stouffville, Ontario, Canada.
“Second Place – Objects of Art Division” Philip E. Louer Jr. from North American Gem Carvers, Blacksburg, Virg.

PGI PLATINUM HONORS

Bridal Wear
“Platinum Honors – Bridal Division” Jack Abraham from Precious Gem Resources, Inc., New York City
“Platinum Honors – Bridal Division” Jeffrey Bilgore from Jeffrey Bilgore LLC, New York, N.Y.
“Platinum Honors – Bridal Division” John T. Haynes from John T. Haynes, Inc. Dallas, Texas

Business/Day Wear
“Platinum Honors – Business/Day Wear Division” David Humphrey from David Humphrey Fine Jewels, Pacific Palisades, Calif.
“Platinum Honors – Business/Day Wear Division” Peter Lees from Peter Lees Jewelry, Ithaca, N.Y.
“Platinum Honors – Business/Day Wear Division” Marie Scarpa from Marie Scarpa Designs, Petaluma, Calif.

Casual Wear
“Platinum Honors – Casual Division” Phillip Dismuke from Jewelsmith, Inc., Durham, N.C.
“Platinum Honors – Casual Division” Phillip Dismuke from Jewelsmith, Inc., Durham, N.C.
“Platinum Honors – Casual Division” Janet T. Tzou from Baby Doll Gems, New York, N.Y.

Evening Wear
“Platinum Honors – Evening Division” Samuel Getz from Samuel Getz Private Jewelers & Designers, Coral Gables, Fla.
“Platinum Honors – Evening Division” Alishan Halebian from Alishan, Irvine, Calif.
“Platinum Honors – Evening Division” Sandra Muller from Lila Gems Inc., Los Angeles

Men’s Wear
“Platinum Honors – Men’s Division” Mirjam Butz-Brown from Mirjam Butz-Brown Jewels, San Diego, Calif.
“Platinum Honors – Men’s Division” Lee Charles Buckingham for Neiman Marcus, Dallas
“Platinum Honors – Men’s Division” Burdett A. Milkins from BAM Designs by Burdett, Monroe, Mich.

This year’s AGTA Spectrum Awards will be presented during the 2004 AGTA GemFair Tucson to be held February 4-9, 2004 at the Tucson Convention Center in Tucson, Ariz. Winning entries will be displayed during the show and AGTA Spectrum Awards recipients will be recognized at the “GemFair Oasis” AGTA Dinner Dance and Awards Gala, February 7, 2004.

For further information on the 2004 AGTA GemFair Tucson or tickets to the “GemFair Oasis” AGTA Dinner Dance and Awards Gala, call (800) 972-1162 or visit he AGTA Web site at www.agta.org.

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