The American Gem Trade Association, Dallas, is accepting submissions for the 2003 Spectrum and Cutting Edge Awards competition. Hailed as North America’s premier colored gemstone jewelry design competition, the Spectrum and Cutting Edge Awards competition is renowned for its artistic excellence and remarkable display of style. This October, hundreds of talented designers and lapidaries will face off in a contest of workmanship and creativity.

The competition will be held October 25, 26, and 27. Entry forms are available on the AFTA Web site (www.agta.org) and deadline for entries is September 27. Winning entries will be displayed at the AGTA GemFair Tucson, February 5-10, 2003, and the 2003 JCK GemFair in 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.

The 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. Categories include: Classic Gemstone, Faceting, Carving, Combination, Pairs & Suites, and Objects of Art.

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.

The Platinum Guild International USA (PGI) sponsors the “Platinum Honors” portion of the competition. Awards are presented 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. Spectrum Awards entries meeting these requirements will automatically be qualified for “Platinum Honors” judging.

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

JCK