The American Gem Trade Association, Dallas, set dates for the 2003 AGTA Spectrum Awards and Cutting Edge competition.

The competition will be held October 25, 26 and 27, 2002. Entry forms are available on the AGTA Web site (www.agta.org) April 25 and deadline for entry is September 27, 2002.

Winning entries will be displayed at the AGTA GemFair Tucson February 5-10, 2003, and the 2003 JCK Show ~ Las Vegas.

Entries in the Spectrum Awards will be evaluated by a panel of distinguished industry judges on the basis of overall beauty and 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 include Evening, Business/Day, Casual, Bridal and Men’s wear.

All designs that qualify for the Spectrum Awards competition will be 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. This group of awards will be awarded for innovative jewelry designs incorporating a minimum of 75% of the designs metal(s) in either 90% or 95% platinum. The design may also incorporate gold accents. Entries meeting these requirements will automatically be qualified for “Platinum Honors” judging by the Platinum Guild International USA.

Cutting Edge Awards. These 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 include: Classic Gemstone, Faceting, Carving, Combination, Pairs & Suites, and Objects of Art.

For complete Spectrum and Cutting Edge information and entry form, contact the AGTA at (800) 972-1162; or e-mail info@agta.org.

JCK