The American Gem Trade Association, Dallas, is celebrating the 20th Anniversary of the Spectrum Awards and is now accepting submissions for the 2004 Spectrum and Cutting Edge Awards competition.
The deadline for entry is September 22 and the competition will be held in October. Entry forms are available on the AGTA Web site (www.agta.org) or by calling 800-972-1162. Winning entries will be displayed at the AGTA GemFair Tucson, February 4-9, 2004 and the 2004 JCK GemFair in Las Vegas.
The AGTA Spectrum Awards is renowned for its artistic excellence and remarkable display of style. 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 Bridal, Business/Day, Casual, Men’s, and Evening 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.
“Platinum Honors,” sponsored by the Platinum Guild International USA (PGI), awards 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. Spectrum Awards entries meeting these requirements will automatically be qualified for “Platinum Honors” judging.
AGTA has made changes to its Cutting Edge Awards competition. 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. A panel of judges will evaluate entries in the Cutting Edge Awards. New categories include:
(A) Open Category
1. Classic gemstone – Limited to outstanding examples of ruby, emerald and sapphire with traditional gemstone cutting techniques.
2. All other faceted gemstones – open to outstanding examples of any gemstone that is faceted with traditional gemstone cutting techniques.
3. Phenomenon gemstones – open to outstanding examples of any phenomenon gemstone with traditional gemstone cutting techniques.
(B) Pairs & Suites – Two or more gemstones to be judged as a set.
Category A & B entries in the Cutting Edge portion of the competition may have been created anywhere in the world, but must be submitted by North American companies.
(C) Faceting – Innovative flat faceting.
(D) Carving – Carving of any natural gem material in any style.
(E) Combination – A gemstone design incorporating two or more lapidary techniques, including concave faceting.
(F) Objects of Art – Carvings, bowls, sculpture, intarsia, etc. of gem materials not intended to be worn. These may or may not incorporate metal, wood or other non-gem materials as base, frame or decorative component.
Category C, D, E & F entries in the Cutting Edge portion of the competition must have been created and submitted by North American lapidaries.
Through the Spectrum and Cutting Edge Awards competition, the AGTA intends to encourage and highlight designers and lapidaries as well as increase interest in natural colored gemstones and cultured pearls.
For complete Spectrum and Cutting Edge information and entry form, contact the AGTA today. Call us at (800) 972-1162 or e-mail AGTA at info@agta.org.
Follow JCK on Instagram: @jckmagazineFollow JCK on Twitter: @jckmagazine
Follow JCK on Facebook: @jckmagazine
