Rio Grande Announces Winners of the 16th Annual Saul Bell Design
Award
At a celebration dinner held on May 15 during the Santa Fe
Symposium? in Albuquerque, NM, Rio Grande announced the winners of
the 16th annual Saul Bell Design Award competition. Through rigorous
judging, a panel of judges chose first- and second-place winners in
each of six competitive categories, as well as in the Emerging
Jewelry Artist category for designers 21 years and younger. Prizes,
awards and congratulations were presented to each winning designer
at the gala dinner. The winning designs, as well as all finalist
pieces, are featured online at http://www.ganoksin.com/gnkurl/ep826r.
The Saul Bell Design Award is a chance for jewelers to reach for
greater heights of skill, knowledge and imagination as they conceive
and execute a career-defining design. The best jewelers from around
the world compete to be recognized for excellence in jewelry design
in any of seven categories:
Gold/Platinum: The predominant metal is gold or platinum group
metals, including palladium, or a combination of these. May be cast,
fabricated, forged, assembled or created with any combination of
techniques.
Silver/Argentium Silver: The predominant metal is silver or
Argentium? Silver or a combination of both. May be cast, fabricated,
forged, assembled or created with any combination of techniques.
Metal Clay: The predominant material is metal clay (silver, gold,
bronze, copper, etc.) and may include gemstones and other findings
as desired.
Hollowware/Art Objects: Includes vessels and non-wearable objects
made of precious metal constructed primarily from milled stock using
one or more metal-forming techniques. Decorative cast components may
be incorporated.
Alternative Metals/Materials: The predominant material can be any
non-traditional metal (not covered in another category, including
base metals and reactive metals) or material (including resin,
glass, wood, found objects and textiles).
Emerging Jewelry Artist: Reserved for designers 21 years or younger,
this category places no limitations on the media used and requires
only that the finished piece is wearable jewelry adornment and
fabricated by the entrant.