The awarding ceremony was held at the inauguration of the exhibition bearing the same name, Russian Diamond Line 2016. The contest, which is held once every two years, aims to attract jewelry connoisseurs to the best creations of Russian jewelers and give new incentives for domestic jewelry production and export intensification. As it was stressed by Alexey Shcherbina, the publisher of the Jewellery Review Magazine and Chairman of the Jewellery Exporters Club, Russian jewelers have perfect goods to reach out to foreign markets, and the Russian Diamond Line Contest is an event regularly promoting Russian artists to the global elite of jewelry design, which is very important for the country’s prestige, as well as for commercial success. The contest is traditionally attended by the most famous Russian jewelry companies and designers. This time, the announced winners were the jewelry pieces produced by Cluev, Bronnitsky Jeweler, Tsvetnaya Raduga, White Diamond, as well as by jewelry designers Natalia Tarasova and Tatiana Tarasova, Eduard Nikitin, Andrei Mikhailov, Anna Teplinskaya and others.
It should be noted that the first time Russian jewelers received three top awards was 160 years ago, at the 1st World Exhibition in London. That was the epoch of Carl Faberge, Pavel Ovchinnikov, Pavel Sazikov, Mikhail Perkhin and other jewelry luminaries. The next major international jewelry victory came only 100 years later, in 1996, when the Sphinx of Giza Diamond Necklace designed by Elena Opaleva from Ekaterinburg was named among the 28 best jewelry pieces at Diamond International Award held by De Beers in 1952-2000.
In 2011, the Bullfinches Pendant made by Ilgiz Fazulzyanov was deservedly awarded the Grand Prix in Hong Kong at the International Jewellery Design Excellence Award after it won in the competition with 108 jewelry pieces named best at national contests. In 2013, the two jewelry pieces, being winners at Russian Diamond Line 2012, including the Secret of the First Drop Ring produced by the Aesthete Jewelry House, were among the top 8 at this global competition. Finally, the Champion of the Champions Title and Grand Prix of the International Jewellery Design Excellence Award-2015, which examined 191 works from 31 countries, were again given to a Russian jewelry piece, which was the Life Ring made by Almaz-Holding (designer Anna Teplinskaya). Thus, Sazikov and Faberge do have their successors.
The Life Ring (Almaz-Holding)
One of the winners of Russian Diamond Line - 2016 was White Diamond (Kostroma), which presented a jewelry set named "Water" included in the Gold Series nomination. Dedicated to one of the four elements of the Universe, this set of jewelry, per its author Anna Teplinskaya, represents the inner inconstancy and purity.
The Water Jewelry Set (White Diamond)
Anna Teplinskaya, Creative Director and Mikhail Kuznetsov, CEO of White Diamond
The winners of Russian Diamond Line 2016 were the jewelry pieces produced by Cluev, Bronnitsky Jeweler, Casting House, Svyat-Lake (all based in Moscow), Natalia Tarasova and Tatiana Tarasova (Nevsky-T, St. Petersburg), Magiya Zhizni (Rostov-on-Don), Darkhan Gold (Ulan-Ude), well-known designers Eduard Nikitin and Andrei Mikhailov (Moscow), Elena Skvortsova (Simferopol), Nikolai Romanov (Nizhniy Tagil).
TM Ulyana Kravtsova (Kostroma), Uzor-Utum (Yakutsk), Metropolitan Jewellery Manufactory (Moscow) and Liliya Fadeeva (Moscow) received Special Diplomas of the Jury.
A jewelry set named "Firebird Feather" produced by the Moiseikin Jewelry House (Ekaterinburg) received the Grand Prix of this contest for the authorial design, impeccable implementation and use of exceptional stones and its own patented tack, Waltzing Brilliance.
The Firebird Feather Jewelry Set (Moiseikin)
The winners of Russian Diamond Line 2016 have been traditionally sent to take part in the Hong Kong international jewelry competition, the results of which will be announced on March 2, 2017.
The Russian Diamond Line contest was founded by the Jewellery Review Magazine in 2008. Every two years, an international jury selects 20 best works from among the winners of various competitions in Russia and CIS, as well as the works of our compatriots living in other countries. The name of the competition - Russian Diamond Line, - in the words of its founders, is “symbolizing the national idea in jewelry design as a product of creativity embraced by the multinational ethnos, which is uniting the space of the former Union and our fellow citizens in dozens of countries around the world."
The founders of Russian Diamond Line recently addressed a proposal to ALROSA to support this contest. The diamond mining company is known for its contribution to the domestic jewelry art: 15 years ago, the world’s major diamond miner initiated and sponsored the "Diamonds of Russia – the 20th Century" Project. Incidentally, the unique collection of "Brilliant in the Russian Avant-Garde Style" created at that time was generously handed over by ALROSA as a gift to the Moscow Kremlin Museums.
The Magic Night Necklace (Cluev)
The International Jewellery Design Excellence Award (IJDEA) is a prestigious international event held since 2009 by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC). The biennial contest is aimed to choose the best jewelry pieces made by winners of national competitions. IJDEA is a “contest of contests” as it is attended by winners of national and regional competitions. Hence, the title awarded to the holder of Grand Prix is "Champion of the Champions." The IJDEA jury is composed of well-known persons in the jewelry world: for example, its 2015 judging panel included famous Italian jeweler Roberto Coin, President and Owner, Roberto Coin S.P.A.; Louisa Lo, Associate Director, Client Advisory, Christie’s China; Barney Cheng, Couture Designer at Yenrabi LTD; Carina Lau, a world-famous actress and the winner of many awards; Sarah Sevier, Head of Buying & Brand Development at the British Victoria and Albert Museum; and Juliet Weir-de La Rochefoucauld, an art critic from France.
In March 2017, Lawrence Ma, the veteran Chairman of the Jury and Head of the Organizing Committee of the Hong Kong International Jewellery Show will be assisted by Michelle Ong of Carnet, Jeff Chan of Christie's Asia, Emme Wong of Galtiscopio Limited, Irina Slesareva of Jewellery Review Magazine, Fei Liu of Fei Liu Fine Jewellery, Christina Ko of Prestige Magazine, Ruth Faulkner of Retail Jeweller Magazine.
At a press conference in the Central House of Journalists dedicated to the results of the Russian Diamond Line 2016, Eduard Utkin, General Manager of the Russian Jewelers Guild said the share of domestic jewelry goods in the global jewelry exports (which currently stands at only $ 120 million or 0.12%) could be much higher, given the rich tradition of Russian jewelry art and the success of the country’s contemporary jewelry designers. Jewelry manufacturing in Russia has turned to be cheaper than in China at the current ruble exchange rate. An additional advantage is the country’s own unique resource base. In short, there are all conditions for increasing jewelry exports, but the Russian jewelers are in dire need of state support, and above all this regards the simplification of customs procedures and introduction of a declarative jewelry export regime - both for the purpose of exhibitions and shipping export consignments.
Galina Semyonova for Rough&Polished
