It was a night to remember as the real stars of India’s coveted designer jewellery descended from the skies to the Royal Opera House in south Mumbai responding to the futuristic theme of ‘Enchanted Cosmos’! The Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) presented The Artisan Jewellery Design Awards 2019 powered by GIA (Gemological Institute of America) and co-partnered by the DPA (Diamond Producers Association).

The Artisan Awards celebrate the highest levels of art, creativity & innovation by honoring the best talent in jewellery design and elevating designers to their rightful status of artistes. Rightfully so, as creative minds from diverse walks of life gathered together to discuss, debate and deliberate on creativity of young designers who are wooing the consumers’ minds with their imagination, spontaneity, artistry and visualization. Pramod Kumar Agrawal (Chairman, GJEPC), said, “The Indian gem & Jewellery industry has a history of more than 5000 years. The Rajas and Maharajas have supported this art, and we have a tradition of passing this skill from one generation to other. We always had the advantage of skilled artisans and karigars when catering to global markets. Today, total gem and jewellery exports accounts for USD 42 billion annually. The industry contributes around 7% to India’s GDP and employs more than 5 million people. It's time that the world is made aware of India’s jewellery Design potential and portray India as a 'Design Destination' for Jewellery. The Artisan Awards is an initiative and a sincere effort by Council to encourage the true design talent in the industry and showcase India’s Design extravagance to the world.”

Actress Aditi Rao Hydari graced the momentous occasion of the grand finale where the eventual winners triumphed from over 550 entries and 23 shortlisted sketches, which got into manufacturing process and the final judging process based on these finished products. The selection was based on various predefined parameters such as Design Aesthetics, Wearability, Innovation, relevance to Theme & Makeability/ Manufacturing.

Colin Shah (Vice Chairman, GJEPC), said, “The importance of India in the global jewellery design context is growing to what it used to be historically when Indian influence on luxury jewellery was evidenced from the creations of Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels and Harry Winston for the Maharajas and Nawabs. Incidentally, GJEPC chose the theme of ‘Enchanted Cosmos’ for the Artisan Awards 2019 much before it becomes the Design Theme for buying season 2020. The contest theme 'Enchanted Cosmos' helps designers explore the mysteries of galaxies and universes known and unknown. We were overwhelmed to receive 550 entries across India in the three categories: a) Rings or Pendants b) Brooches or Pins c) Earrings or Bracelets.”

While Ms. Mehul Gupta triumphed as winner in the Rings/Pendant Category (her piece was manufactured by Jewel Goldi, Ms. Mitali Kikani of H.Ajoomal fine jewellery & Ms. Soukata Basu Malhotra (her piece manufactured by Ace Jewellery Designer, Anand Shah) bagged first position in the category of Brooches/Pins & Earring/Bracelets category respectively. In the Rings/ Pendants category, Koushik Mondal, Tanvirkumar & Co. was the first runner-up and Deepika Pathya, Titan Company Ltd. was the second runner up; the finalists were: Biswarup Chakraborty, Independent Designer (Piece manufactured by Jewel Goldi), Mumbai; Isha Deb, Bluestone Jewellery; and Kamal Parui, Emerald Jewel India Ltd.; Laxmikanth Mestry, IIGJ Tardeo, Mumbai (Piece Manufactured by Vasupati Jewellers) and Twinkle Dhanesha,SDI-Bengaluru (Piece Manufactured by KP Sanghvi). In the Brooches/Pins category, Aashna Chaudhary, Titan Company Ltd. was the first runner up and Jayshree Tupe, A'Star Jewellery was the second runner up; the finalists were Sanskruti Serrao, PNG Jewellers Ltd.; V. Saravanan, Titan Company Ltd.; and Rakesh Bhowmik, Tanvirkumar & Co. In the Earrings/ Bracelets category, Soumyajit Maity, Priority Jewels Ltd. was the first runner up and Yash Pandey, IIGJ Delhi (Piece Manufactured by Anand Shah) was the second runner up; finalists were: Aashna Chaudhary, Titan Company Ltd.; Hariharan T S, Titan Company Ltd.; Aaheli Datta, Titan Company Ltd.; Urvi Bansal,B.K Saraf Jewellers (Piece Manufactured by Gold Artism); Harsona J Choksi,Sangam Jewels Gold; and Bhavana Jain, Kama Schachter; GJEPC introduced one more category of award ‘Best Product Inventory at Signature IIJS 2019’.

There were a total of 8 sub categories for this award... 1. Daily Wear Diamond Jewellery – Shree Fine Jewels Pvt. Ltd. (Winner), Zunda (1 st runner up) & Sphere (2 nd runner up)

2. Couture Diamond Jewellery – Tibarumal (Winner) Manak Diamonds (1 st runner up), Splurge (2 nd runner up)

3. Gold Jewellery – Sawansukha Jewellers (Winner), Gold Artism (1 st runner up)

4. Silver Jewellery – R. K. Silver & Gold (Winner)

5. Platinum – Pure Platinum

6. Coloured Gemstones Jewellery – Tara Fine Jewels (Winner) Sanskriti Jewels (1 st runner up), Birdhichand Ghanshyamdas (2 nd runner up)

7. Kundan Meena Jewellery - VM Ornaments (Winner), Vasupati Jewellers India Pvt. Ltd. (1 st runner up)

8. Pearl Jewellery – Manoj Ornaments (Winner) In continuation to GJEPC’s endeavour to spearhead design led initiatives to promote innovation in jewellery designing, GJEPC launched an exclusive handbook on jewelry trends, “AATMAN - Inspirations 2020” AATMAN - Inspirations 2020”, is edited by The Futurist’s team of international luxury industry analysts led by International Jewellery forecaster, Ms. Paola De Luca. Milan Chokshi (Member-COA & Convener, Promotions, Marketing and Business Development of the GJEPC), said, “AATMAN - Inspirations 2020” is a significant initiative that have been undertaken by GJEPC – I am sure this will pave the way forward and build bridges to a new, vibrant and exciting future filled with creativity.” AATMAN 2020 covers broad spectrum of jewellery encompassing trends in major categories of bridal, couture or pret. All in all a complete reference point to creating pieces not only in sync with time but also crafting pieces which are timeless and precious Paola De Luca of The Futurist said, “India is reclaiming its global stature as a leading pioneer in luxury jewellery design. “AATMAN - Inspirations 2020” will inspire the new generation of Indian creative leaders, providing a blueprint for key design trends, raising topical issues affecting the diamond industry, and presenting an illustrated history of India’s early prominence in design.” De Luca added, “Having been a co-founder of the Design Inspirations Programme, I am extremely proud to be associated with this initiative to drive forward Indian design talent on the global stage.”