Nina Basharova has been named the 2008 Grand Prize winner of the American Jewelry Design Council‘s annual New Talent Contest.

The Council also recognized six finalists: Belle Brooke of Belle Brook Designs, Liaung Chung Yen of Chunk Yen Designs, James Cleland, Jack and Elizabeth Gualtieri of Zaffiro Jewelry, Mayra Orama of Mio Studio, and Natasha Wozniak of Natasha Wozniak Design.

Nina Basharova will receive an all-expense-paid booth to exhibit her collections in the New Designer Gallery at the July 2008 JA New York Summer Show at The Javits Center. During the show, AJDC will honor Basharova at an award ceremony and present her with a trophy made by AJDC member Michael Good. She will also receive professional support from members of the AJDC on making the step to larger markets.

Basharova was born in the Russian Federation and raised in the Ukraine. She began her studies in Fine Arts while living in the Ukraine and went onto get a degree in jewelry design at the Art College in Haifa. She arrived in New York in 2002 and began carving out her own original identity of hand finished pieces that blend together an artisan’s eye for craft and detail with a modern sensibility.

Basharova was twice honored with the Sharett Scholarship of the America-Israel Cultural Foundation, and has gone on to win or place with the MSJA Vision Award, the WJA Diva award, The Tahitian Pearl Trophy Award, The Niche Award, and the JCK Jeweler’s Choice Award.

She will be exhibiting in the JCK Design Pavilion as one of 2008’s Rising Stars. Her graceful, elegant, jewelry have caught the attention of dozens of editors and been featured widely in the trade and consumer press.

The American Jewelry Design Council is a non-profit educational corporation that recognizes and promotes the understanding of original jewelry designs as art is a group. It is represented by more than 30 nationally prominent designers.

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