AJA’s Design Competition Now Accepting Entries
The Armenian Jewellers Association is hosting its design competition for the second year, with winners showcasing at GemGenève in May 2025.

AJA’s judging committee will select five winners who will be given the opportunity to showcase their winning piece in the Armenian Designers booth, which is sponsored by AJA, at GemGenève on May 18 – 11 in 2025.
The winners will also have their work highlighted in AJA’s publications and social media, along with exhibiting at the trade show in Geneva.
Interested jewelers and designers must be of Armenian heritage to enter the competition, submitting either a production-ready sketch or a finished piece of jewelry.
The sketches can be hand-drawn or rendered by any traditional drawing media or CAD.
If submitting a finished piece, it must be crafted from precious metals like gold, silver, or platinum, with or without gemstones.
A judging panel made up of independent experts in the industry will choose the competition’s five winners according to three criteria.
There is creativity and innovative design, where the judges will evaluate each piece’s market appeal, design relevance, and manufacturing practicality.
Then they will assess the technical ability of the piece, where they look at the quality of workmanship and materials, and lastly is presentation, where the judges determine if the piece has good branding and inspiration.
The deadline to enter the 2024 Armenian Jewelry Design Competition is Nov. 17.
Judging will take place from Nov. 20 to Dec. 10, with the organization announcing its winners on Jan. 15.
Applicants can submit up to five designs. They must be in separate entry forms submitted online.
To learn more about the Armenian Jewellers Association and its design competition, email contact@aja.internatinal or visit its LinkedIn page.
The Latest

The industry veterans join the podcast to discuss diamond marketing, the FTC Jewelry Guides, and lobbying for lower tariffs.

Founder Vik Westermann said the app is a “starting point” to inspire people to work with appraisers and gem labs, not replace them.

The Verdura brooch, which belonged to the late Virginia Fortune Ryan Ogilvy, was sold to a private collector in Asia.

Submit your pieces for a chance to win in this year's competition.

Steven Lerche is now beginning his term as the youngest member to become president of The Plumb Club’s elected executive committee.


Murphy will retire at the end of the year and Alexander, currently the company’s president, will take over at the start of 2027.

The jeweler is encouraging customers who own lookalike rings to come into the store and trade them for credit towards an authentic piece.

Retailers are seeking new ways to attract customers, increase traffic, and create revenue – Estate buying events are a popular solution.

The new campaign, “You Are The Occasion,” discourages shoppers from saving their fine jewelry for special occasions only.

Mehta led India’s GJEPC through the 2008 financial crisis and was respected worldwide for his wisdom, integrity, and knowledge.

One is the driver who allegedly crashed a car into a Sacramento jewelry store in April, striking a 71-year-old employee who later died.

In a new column, Peter Smith posits that people actually enjoy putting together IKEA furniture, and the same is true for engagement rings.

9lakha Jewelers in Iselin, New Jersey, was the target of a smash-and-grab robbery on Aug. 8.

The jeweler has partnered with 818 Tequila to gift lab-grown diamond studs to a bride-to-be and their bridal party.

Marquise-cut diamonds in drop charms are the center of the new collection, reflecting the movement of a dancer in modular styles.

The inaugural Fort Lauderdale Jewelry, Antique, & Object Show will be held from Jan. 28 through Feb. 1, 2027.

The family-owned jeweler will open a new showroom in Bel Air, Maryland, this fall.

Amanda Ileana Hernandez is married to Carlos Hernandez, one of two men in prison for the 2024 murder of Michigan jeweler Hussein Murray.

The reimagined jewel, our Piece of the Week, trades the diamonds in the original 1998 design for blue, pink, yellow, and green sapphires.

Sponsored by American Gem Trade Association

In the United States, second-quarter sales were flat amid soft consumer sentiment and lower in-store traffic.

The 22-karat gold egg, sold at Batemans Auctioneers in the U.K., was part of a 1980s treasure hunt ad campaign for Cadbury Creme Eggs.

Lucara Diamond Corp., which recovered the “Motswedi” diamond from the Karowe mine, sold the stone for an undisclosed amount.

The expanded collections now feature hand-cut gemstones like topaz, tanzanite, chrysoprase, chalcedony, smoky quartz, and fire opal.

The lab-grown diamond jewelry brand’s newest boutique is in Westfield Valley Fair in Santa Clara, California.

The gemstone supplier and manufacturer acquired the remarkable 104-gram Zambian emerald at Gemfields’ auction in May.

Two suspects offered to trade the woman a “winning” lottery ticket for her jewelry.























