Events & Awards

CPAA Launches 8th Annual Jewelry Design Contest

Events & AwardsJul 19, 2017

CPAA Launches 8th Annual Jewelry Design Contest

Entries for the International Pearl Design Competition will be accepted through Sept. 21.

Providence, R.I.--The Cultured Pearl Association of America’s eighth International Pearl Design Competition has kicked off, officially launching during the recent JCK Las Vegas trade show.

The CPAA created the contest to celebrate and recognize design excellence using cultured pearls.

It will be judged by a panel of jewelry industry leaders including editors, writers, buyers, craftsmen and sellers of cultured pearls.

Nine different awards are given.
-- President’s Trophy, the highest honor given to a design that “unanimously captivated all judges as the best of the best”
-- Luster Award, given to the entry that is thought to be the “most marketable” of all entries in the competition and that has the most appeal for the retail marketplace
-- Designer’s Award, given to the entry that takes pearls to the “far corners of the imagination and beyond,” meaning it displays originality
-- Brilliance Award, for the entry that best shows the spectrum of pearl colors
-- Orient Award, for the design that would inspire a newfound affinity for cultured pearls
--The Visionary Award, to the entry that redefines the iconic pearl strand
-- Wedding Day Pearls, for creating a “fantasy wedding” with cultured pearls
-- Fashion Award, for the design that is the most fun, fresh and modern
-- Fantasy Award, for the best conceptual, aspirational design

Contestants can enter up to five different designs, and each entry can be submitted with up to five different images and/or drawings. The first costs $150, and each additional entry is $100.

The contest will run through Sept. 21.

Winners will be announced on Nov. 2; winning entries will be put on display during the AGTA and JCK shows in 2018.

For more information or to submit a design, visit CPAA.org.

Brecken Branstratoris the senior editor, gemstones at National Jeweler, covering sourcing, pricing and other developments in the colored stone sector.

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