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IGI Jewelry Design Contest Grand Showcase

In February we announced the results of the inaugural IGI JEWEL Jewelry Design Contest. We have shared the winners and finalists a few at a time in prior posts. Now we are pleased to feature all 26 of these creations together, bringing our coverage of this uplifting event to a close.

Collision and Fusion

The contest theme, “Collision and Fusion,” implied crystal collision in gemstone growth and stylistic cultural fusion. It was also chosen to reflect the collision of our shared global experience and the fusion of human adaptation during unprecedented times.

IGI, and event partner House of Jewelry Creation provided resources to fabricate the works below, selected from over 700 talented submissions.


Grand Showcase


1. Light of The Spirit 

Contest Champion

Concept: Western Art Deco style combines with Eastern Zen and hard metal texture blends with light gauze. It is intended to express: Although people cannot extend their lives, they can determine the width of their lives. No matter what the situation, the inner spiritual light still shines and continues.

Materials: Gold (12g), diamonds and tulle measuring 80 mm x 50 mm.

Prizes: Cash Award, IGI Graduate Gemologist Scholarship, Overseas Study, Contest Award Trophy and Certificate.

Light of The Spirit 

Final Creation

Light of The Spirit 

Light of The Spirit 

Artist’s Comment:

I don’t want to define myself as any kind of designer, I just want to be a designer who kept leaving my ideology in the world in different forms through design. There are always countless possibilities in the future. – Ms. Ying He, Contest Champion


2. Calligraphy

Silver Medal Winner (1 of 2)

Concept: Brushstroke Dragon and Snake calligraphy is described as vivid and vigorous. It comes from the verses of Li Bai admiring the calligraphy of the great calligrapher Huai Su. This work is designed with the word “snake” as its shape.

Materials: Diamonds and gold.

Prizes: Cash Award, IGI Diamond Graduate Scholarship, Overseas Study, Contest Award Trophy and Certificate.

Brushstroke Dragon and Snake calligraphy

Final Creation

Brushstroke Dragon and Snake calligraphy

Brushstroke Dragon and Snake calligraphy

Brushstroke Dragon and Snake calligraphy


3. The Garden of Dreams

Silver Medal Winner (2 of 2)

Concept: Inspired by the Kunqu opera, The Peony Pavilion, the work is based on the theme of the play “A Dream in the Garden” and recreates the beautiful love story. The dream (the upper part of the earrings) and the love (the lower part of the earrings) are connected by the “garden” (the middle portion). The dream is false but the love is true.

Materials: Gold, sapphires, tourmalines, emeralds, tsavorites, turquoise, diamonds.

Prizes: Cash Award, IGI Diamond Graduate Scholarship, Overseas Study, Contest Award Trophy and Certificate.

The Garden of Dreams

Final Creation

The Garden of Dreams

The Garden of Dreams


4. Fusion-Tribute to Picasso Cubism

Outstanding Colored Gemstone Design

Concept: This design was inspired by Picasso’s cubist paintings. The collision and fusion of plain painting and geometric solid structure are combined, just like the geometric fish on paper, with all kinds of vitality and artistic aura.

Materials: Silver (202g), pearl and enamel.

Prizes: Cash Award, IGI Coursework Scholarship, Contest Award Trophy and Certificate.

Fusion-Tribute to Picasso Cubism

Final Creation

Fusion-Tribute to Picasso Cubism

Fusion-Tribute to Picasso Cubism


5. Reincarnation

Outstanding Diamond Design

Concept: The design of the ring is inspired by time, and is reminiscent of a traditional Chinese time measuring instrument, the Sundial. The sundial represents the wisdom of the ancient Chinese people and the worship of time and eternity. The main diamond is set at a special angle so that when the sun shines down, it will project a different light on the wearer’s hand, complemented by the interplay of encircling lines, combined with the modern technology of the ring design, so that the whole piece does not tend to be clichéd, showing that the true nature of diamond design is time and eternity.

Materials: Diamond and platinum.

Prizes: Cash Award, IGI Coursework Scholarship, Contest Award Trophy and Certificate.

Reincarnation - Outstanding Diamond Design

Final Creation

Reincarnation - Outstanding Diamond Design

Reincarnation - Outstanding Diamond Design


6. Bullfight

Outstanding Gold Design

Concept: “No break, no creation.” The punctured matador’s cape, sharp horns and raised back illustrate the desire to break old rules, the will to fight and the power to rise up.

Materials: Gold and diamonds.

Prizes: Cash Award, IGI Coursework Scholarship, Contest Award Trophy and Certificate.

Bullfight - Outstanding Gold Design

Final Creation

Bullfight - Outstanding Gold Design

Bullfight - Outstanding Gold Design


7. Melting

Outstanding Creative Materials Design

Concept: I got my concept from the classic Chinese snuff bottle image. Combining a modern gem with a resin to simulate the state of the gem when it melts, it is also a “snuff bottle” smoking state.

Materials: Glass

Prizes: Cash Award, IGI Coursework Scholarship, Contest Award Trophy and Certificate.

Melting - Outstanding Creative Materials Design

Final Creation

Melting - Outstanding Creative Materials Design

Melting - Outstanding Creative Materials Design


8. Blending

Inspiration: Eastern and Western civilizations combine the brightest parts of human culture. They impact each other and are intertwined with each other, finally merging in violent collision to achieve balance.

"Blending" - jewelry design contest entry

Final Creation

"Blending" - jewelry design contest entry

"Blending" - jewelry design contest entry


9. The Paper Ring

Inspiration: The design is inspired by the small action of tearing paper. A paper’s plain surface may have a very different texture on the other side after it’s torn – much like evaluating a person not just on the outside, but on the inside.

"The Paper Ring"

Final Creation

"The Paper Ring"

"The Paper Ring"


10. Nebula Sea

Inspiration: Inspired by the mixed beauty of nature emanating from gems, the material represents that moment at dawn when the sky reaches the sea – and the color of natural landscapes grows fiercer and fiercer.

"Nebula Sea"

Final Creation

"Nebula Sea"

"Nebula Sea"


11. Civilization

Inspiration: The journey of our ancestors, whether seeking coexistence or prosperity, has been very difficult. It has taken many generations, but their steps forward have never faltered. This small but tenacious journey ultimately makes us a civilization beyond ourselves.

"Civilization"

Final Creation

"Civilization"

"Civilization"


12. Islet

Inspiration: This work takes our current environment as the theme and depicts a world that may appear in the future: As the boundary between our expanding human living environment and natural environment is gradually broken, the living environment of natural creatures inevitably shrinks and some species are on the verge of disappearing.

"Islet" jewelry design

Final Creation

"Islet" jewelry design

"Islet" jewelry design


13. Landscape

Inspiration: “Tao De Jing” records that “the mine is like a valley:” Valley means an open space between mountains, and rivers flow between the mountains here.

"Landscape" jewelry design

Final Creation

"Landscape" jewelry design

"Landscape" jewelry design


14. Jewel Blessings

Inspiration: The work is a brooch with chopsticks as the design element. Chopsticks are also called “zhu” in Chinese, so the work is named “Zhu” Fu which means blessing. Traditional Chinese chopsticks are combined with simple western patterns to show the integration of Chinese and Western aesthetics.

"Jewel Blessings" jewelry design

Final Creation

"Jewel Blessings" jewelry design

"Jewel Blessings" jewelry design


15. Day & Night

Inspiration: The design is inspired by the day and night, as well as the stars and sea. Black and white intersect. Day and night merge, the stars mingle with the sea.

"Day & Night" jewelry design

Final Creation

"Day & Night" jewelry design

"Day & Night" jewelry design


16. Fusion

Inspiration: The design was inspired by the network technology circuit board. Ancient China developed the Silk Road to promote commerce and trade. Faced with the huge impact of COVID-19 this year, foreign trade on the Internet has emerged with unique advantages.

"Fusion" jewelry design

Final Creation

"Fusion" jewelry design

"Fusion" jewelry design


17. Crane

Inspiration:This is a brooch. It is not only a feather, but also a wild crane flying downward, a peony arched in the feathers. It represents a more peaceful and integrated mentality with which to treat the rich and the poor, changes and differences.

Final Creation


18. 

Inspiration: I have exaggerated the structure and shape of the braces. Combined with the diamond form, this attempts to represent the hidden aesthetic truth of society under the light of a huge aura of “beauty”. The face shape of the man influenced by the huge frame of the mask sets off the dreamlike trap of the consumerist era.

Final Creation


19. Inclusions

Inspiration: This work borrows the value symbol “diamond” to express the existence of inclusions. It should not be a bias to judge values. People’s pursuit of a “flawless diamond” meets the aesthetic needs of the general sense.

Final Creation


20. The Two Rites

Inspiration: Inspiration comes from the theory of Yin and Yang balance in Yi Zhuan. The art of interpreting ancient Chinese culture with figurative white birds and snakehead fish and modern lines. White birds for Yang, black fish for Yin. All things and phenomena in the vast universe contain Yin and Yang, as well as both sides of the surface – and inside.

Final Creation


21. The Mystery Of Life

Inspiration:The core, mantle, crust, ocean. Plates collide again and again. Different substances fuse under high temperature and high pressure for hundreds of millions of years, forming a rare gem. Man is also a rare creation of God, with his own DNA code. The light of human nature is like gems and gold.

Final Creation


22. The Tea Crossing

Inspiration: The work is inspired by the “yin and yang” in ancient Chinese philosophy. When yin and yang collide, they absorb, harmonize and merge with each other. The work combines the three yin and yang circles in space and makes them staggered and twisted. Tea consumption originated in China and became popular in Europe. This work uses two completely different forms of tea due to the different tea drinking habits of the East and the West as design elements. The final shape of the radial rotating drill point shows the collision and integration of Eastern and Western lifestyles in the tea culture.

Final Creation


 23. Water texture

Inspiration: The colored part in the design symbolizes the various colors of plastic glass. A plastic hollow texture is used to show the texture of rain hitting the water. The white pearls on the edge of the texture symbolize the white bubbles floating on the water surface with white pollution.

Final Creation


24. Coincide

Inspiration: Each piece of wood has its own pattern, consisting of four small pieces of different wood. The combination will naturally lead to a new relationship. Edges and corners give people a hard feeling. Therefore, the way of wearing it adopts soft materials like wool to combine. Such collision creates the beauty of coincidence.

Final Creation


25. Bluetooth

Inspiration: Inspired by the famous Austrian musician: “Genesis” by Joseph Haydn. Extract staff and angel wings elements. Express the rhythm of music with smooth lines. Simplify the shape similar to stretched wings.

Final Creation


26. Burning Fireworks

Inspiration: When fireworks bloom in the silent night sky the beautiful figures are like a group of ballet dancers dancing in the middle. Let people forget the huge noise when it broke out, and the silence of the night sky. The magnificence before shattering is to leave a beautiful shadow until the ashes disappear.

Final Creation


Sincere Thanks and Appreciation

IGI’s international panel of prestigious judges for this event included Stephen WebsterDavid Gotlib, Paola De Luca, Alexandre CorrotMauro Vegliante, Maria Laura La Mantia, Philip Sajet and Zheng Liangdong, along with special jurists Wang Jin Yuan of Fosun, Jiang Qionger of Shangxia and Jing Jing of Bazaar Jewelry.

IGI sincerely thanks these fine jurists, and expresses appreciation and congratulations to the hundreds of talented creatives who participated in this inaugural event.

The IGI JEWEL Jewelry Design Contest is intended to foster artistic communication, cultural diversity and beauty through modern jewelry design. We hope the outstanding works from this year’s contest will attract and inspire future participation from creatives around the world who love jewelry, design, and life.

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