Two innovators are the recipients of the Kering Generation Award X Jewelry for their projects addressing gemstone traceability and demonstrating how to make jewelry from unconventional materials.
The second Kering Generation Award X Jewelry honor was presented July 9 at Kering’s Paris headquarters during Paris Haute Couture Week. The competition brought 44 startups and students from 10 universities and academies to participate around this year’s theme, “Second Chance, First Choice.”
In the Student category, China’s Yang Yuchan from the Beijing Institute of Fashion Technology won for her contemporary jewelry piece, Perching Willow. Yuchan turned old compact discs into fine jewelry using traditional Chinese lacquer techniques combined with classic mother-of-pearl inlay.
Among Startup companies, France’s GeoGems won with its project to determine the origin of a gemstone. Its OriGems shows that gemstone identification can become scientifically verifiable, addressing traceability challenges in the jewelry-supply chain.
The awards were presented by Professor Alba Cappellieri, head of jewelry and fashion accessories programs at Politecnico di Milano, and CIBJO president Gaetano Cavalieri. CIBJO and Kering are partners in the awards, which seek to support visionary talent in sustainable design and jewelry-making practices.
The Student category winner will receive a six-month internship with Kering’s Pomellato brand, and the Startup category winner will receive a mentorship with Politecnico di Milano experts.
The task was to find unique solutions that reduce the environmental footprint of the jewelry industry across products, processes, services, and technology (including AI).
“The success of our Kering Generation Award X Jewelry demonstrates just how ready the next generation is to reinvent sustainable jewelry,” said Marie-Claire Daveu, Kering’s chief sustainability and institutional affairs officer, in a statement.
“By bringing together startups and students, we are opening a new chapter to empower those who are shaping the future of the industry,” Daveu added. “For Kering, fostering innovations at the crossroads of craftsmanship, technology, and environmental responsibility is no longer an option—it’s a necessity.”
Kering debuted the Kering Generation Award in 2018 in China to support local startups in creating sustainable and innovative materials and processes that generated positive environmental and social impact. Today, that initiative includes Saudi Arabia and Japan. In 2024, Kering broadened the award’s scope to include jewelry; the first Kering Generation Award X Jewelry winner was revealed at the 2025 JCK show in Las Vegas.
“The Kering Generation Award X Jewelry is not only an important platform for emerging talent, but also a valuable window into the expectations, values, and aspirations of the next generation of consumers, helping to shape the future of the jewelry industry,” Cavalieri said in a statement.
Top: CIBJO president Gaetano Cavalieri; Lauriane Pinsault, CEO of GeoGems, winner in the Startup category; Marie-Claire Daveu, Kering’s chief sustainability and institutional affairs officer; Yang Yuchan, winner in the Student category; and Professor Alba Cappellieri, head of jewelry at Politecnico di Milano and the scientific director of the award (photos courtesy of CIBJO)
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