All around the room, love was in the air.

On Saturday, I joined a group of editors and influencers in a meeting space at the Omni Hotel in Frisco, Texas. We were invited by the American Gem Trade Association (AGTA), headquartered in nearby Dallas, to lend our editorial judgment to the entries in its annual Spectrum & Cutting Edge Awards, the American fine jewelry industry’s most prestigious celebration of color. Our assignment: Choose two entries deserving of the coveted Editors’ Choice awards.

Instead of clinically evaluating the 392 submissions, however, my fellow editors and I kept falling in love. Choosing favorites, we quickly realized, was all but impossible. As I gazed around the room, the awe, wonder, even tenderness I saw on my fellow gem lovers’ faces underscored something that is impossible to ignore once you’ve spent any amount of time in the jewelry trade: Colored stones strike an emotional chord like nothing else.

John Ford, AGTA’s CEO, certainly felt the passion. He balanced a 41.05 ct. unheated cushion-cut blue sapphire on top of his left hand and acknowledged that the gem—a faceted Ceylon sapphire by Joseph Ambalu of Amba Gem Corp. that took first place in the Cutting Edge Awards’ Classic Gemstones category—had left him speechless.

“It’s an extremely rare and valuable stone,” he said. “Words just can’t describe it.”

I felt that way about dozens of pieces submitted to the competition, regardless of whether they had a “winner” placard beside them. Between the “Tulip Duet” pin by designer Robin Callahan featuring an 11.65 ct. fantasy-cut reddish-pink garnet shaped by David Tyrpak of Timberwolf Designs; Wolfgang Vaatz’s “Rock Creek Upper West Fork” bolo pendant, a masterpiece of goldsmithing depicting trees amid a stream in the glow of an orange sapphire sun, a handful of metallic-hued sapphires sprinkled before them; and the 18k yellow gold “Jardin d’Azur” necklace, a turquoise, coral, and diamond collar by Brenda Smith that I desperately wanted to take home with me, this year’s submissions reflected the gem world’s incredible diversity.

Michael O’Connor, marketing director of the Plumb Club and emcee of the Spectrum Awards’ annual ceremony and gala (the 2027 event is due to take place at the Tucson Convention Center on Feb. 3), was struck by the same recognition. “I rarely see as wide and as deep a collection of colored gemstones as I do here,” he told me. “Not only wide and deep, but interesting and new. I’ve never heard of some of these gemstones before.”

He wasn’t the only one. This year’s awards featured gems whose names I could barely pronounce: axinite, kornerupine, moldavite. In the Cutting Edge section, there were phenomenal stones glowing with stars, fluorescing gems that blushed hot pink under UV light, delicately faceted pieces shaped like hexagons and chubby hearts, and a whole table of stones mined in North America, including a 78.12 ct. fantasy-cut kunzite in a cool bar shape by Derek Katzenbach.

Spectrum’s jewelry submissions were no less awe-inspiring. Lezlie Slavens of Luxe Fine Jewelry took Best of Show honors (plus first place in Classical) for her “Can’t Look Away” illuminating necklace. The piece was centered on a 101.34 ct. paraiba tourmaline carved into the likeness of Medusa, and surrounded by a swirl of diamond, tourmaline, and platinum snakes. The pièce de résistance? Slavens had added a light that could be activated by placing a magnet hidden in the necklace to the back of Medusa’s head. The editors and influencers couldn’t get enough of it.

Judging for the Spectrum and Cutting Edge Awards, which were first held in 1984, took place in the days leading up to Editors’ Day. Eleven judges, representing different facets of the trade—from retail to manufacturing to design—faced the daunting task of awarding first, second, third, and honorable mention wins to a tiny fraction of the entries (submissions were up by 21% over last year and 16% belonged to first-time participants).

This year’s competition also featured two new categories: the Stuller Color of the Year Award, marking the best pieces featuring the Lafayette, La.–based manufacturer’s 2026 color, Signature Red, and the Innovation Award for the finest jewels that wholesale for less than $10,000.

“Everyone thinks the Spectrum Awards are for red carpet jewelry,” Ford told me. “This category was made so that we could bring out the true design elements, and not necessarily the biggest ruby or the biggest sapphire would win.”

Indeed, the winner of the Innovation Award, the hilarious and charming “Baabara” necklace by Ricardo Basta, was a tiny sheep with a coat of white pearls and head and feet studded in black diamonds. It was the talk of the dinner table the night before our judging event—when I first glimpsed it, I felt a visceral jolt.

By the end of the event, we’d collectively chosen our Editors’ Choice winners, albeit with great difficulty: In the Spectrum category, the prize went to repeat winner (and friend!) Adam Neeley, the Laguna Beach, Calif., high jeweler whose titanium and 18k white gold “Trumpetta” earrings (featured at top) stunned with 67 cts. t.w. green tourmalines custom cut by Stephen Avery. And the Cutting Edge win went to Ann Barker of Barker & Co. in Scottsdale, Ariz., for her “A Kaleidoscope of Cuprian” suite of multicolor Mozambique paraiba and cuprian tourmalines (totaling 98.61 cts.).

After the hard work was over, I sat down with Charles Evans, an experienced gem buyer, gemologist, and appraiser, originally from Zimbabwe and now a gemstone buyer at Stuller. He was one of two judges who’d voted on the Stuller category. During our chat, he articulated why the Spectrum and Cutting Edge Awards matter, especially to emerging designers entering them for the first time.

“A lot of people in our industry are sitting at the workbench on their own,” Evans said. “And when it’s just you and your mind, you need to drive yourself. You need something that’s pushing you on. We create pieces that are designed and made with a great deal of passion. And I think those labors should be celebrated. It’s too easy to be a small maker and think your world is just that—that little contact book of customers who’ve been loyal to you. You’re better than that. Bring it out, show it to everybody.

“That room”—he gestured to the space where all 392 entries remained on display—“was filled with pieces of wonder.”

Aaaaamen!

Top: Adam Neeley of Adam Neeley Fine Art Jewelry won the Editors’ Choice award in the Spectrum competition for his titanium and 18k white gold “Trumpetta” earrings featuring 67 cts. t.w. green custom-cut tourmalines and 1.11 cts. t.w. diamonds. (Photo: Jeff Mason Photography)

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