Alan Revere to Be Honored with Award from AJDC

Tucson, Ariz.—Last year, Alan Revere retired, closing the Revere Academy of Jewelry Arts in San Francisco. Now, the industry wants to recognize his contributions to design.

The American Jewelry Design Council (AJDC) will present Revere with a Benne Award, its highest honor, this coming February at the AGTA GemFair Tucson.

The Benne Award is named after Benvenuto Cellini, the Italian Renaissance goldsmith and sculptor, and awarded to an individual who has significantly impacted the world of contemporary design.

Past recipients of the award, which is given out on a case-by-case rather than an annual basis, include Mort Abelson, Cindy Edelstein, writer Ettagale Blauer and marketer Laurie Hudson.

Revere’s contributions encompass personally teaching more than 10,000 designers how to make jewelry, helping launch many careers. He also is past president of the AJDC and founder of the Contemporary Jewelry Design Group.

For two decades he focused on his own line of award-winning work, which was sold across the United States. He opened his school, the Revere Academy of Jewelry Arts, in 1979.

Revere’s expertise in jewelry making led him to write seven books on the subject, including “Professional Jewelry Making,” considered a bible of technique.

AJDC President Barbara Heinrich said: “Our organization is proud to acknowledge Alan Revere's contribution to the jewelry industry and his influence on contemporary jewelry design. Alan has left his mark in metal, in print and in the hands and hearts of jewelers all over the world. He brought European standards and aesthetics across the ocean and across the millennia at a very important time for our community.”

Revere will receive the Benne Award at 4 p.m. on Feb. 8 in the designer showroom at the AGTA’s jewelry trade show, which takes place at the Tucson Convention Center.