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Centurion Announces The Winners Of The 2016 Emerging Designer Competition February 01, 2016 (0 comments)
Scottsdale, AZ—Doryn Wallach, Priyanka Kedia, and Rachel Clark were announced January 30 as the winners of the Centurion 2016 Emerging Designer Competition, sponsored by Stuller. All three designers are making their U.S. tradeshow debut at the Centurion Jewelry Show January 31-February 2.
Each year, the Centurion Emerging Designer Competition, sponsored by Stuller, attracts the best rising talent in fine jewelry design to vie for one of three coveted spaces at the Centurion Scottsdale Show. The competition, limited to designers who have never before shown at a U.S. fine jewelry trade show, drew more than 65 entries from around the world. The three winners also each received a $1,000 merchandise credit from Stuller.
Centurion president Howard Hauben says, “We’re proud to be able to offer the winners an unparalleled opportunity to meet the top prestige jewelers in the United States, and we’re equally proud to offer our Centurion attendees this level of outstanding global talent as an exclusive first introduction.”
Ashley Brown, Stuller’s executive director of marketing and public relations, says, “Stuller is pleased and proud to sponsor the Centurion Design Competition. We believe innovation and creativity are essential to the future of the jewelry industry, and being able to help showcase new talent like these designers falls right in line with our mission.”
A panel of expert judges from the jewelry industry narrowed down the entries to 10 finalists. The Centurion Retailer Advisory Board reviewed those 10 and voted for the three winners who each received a free exhibit space at the Show and a $1,000 merchandise credit from Stuller. This year’s first-round panel of judges included Maren Rosen, vice president of bridal and jewelry merchandising for Stuller Inc., Beth Bernstein, renowned author, stylist, and jewelry-industry journalist, and Shelley Brown, editor for The Knot.
These are the three Centurion Emerging Designer Competition winners for 2016:
Doryn Wallach
After nearly two decades as an interior designer, New York-based Doryn Wallach turned her creativity to fine jewelry. Her premiere collection comes together after several years of redesigning older jewelry pieces given to her from family members. Her jewelry education includes studies at the Gemological Institute of America (GIA), Jewelry Arts Institute and International School of Gemology. Her designs reflect her love of Art Deco style, interior decor, architecture, antique jewelry as well as her own eclectic style.
“I have always loved how jewelry can give every woman a personal expression of style and personality. Fine jewelry commemorates the important moments in our lives and can create lasting style statements,” says Wallach. “My passion for jewelry is inspired by my mother, who would frequently redesign her old jewelry and taught me the challenge of transforming old trends into new. I love turning patterns, architecture and different elements of interior decor into themes for my jewelry. It’s the same beauty of reinvention.”
A graduate of New York’s Fashion Institute of Technology, Wallach explains how her former career influenced her decision to take the leap in to jewelry design, “Creating unique interiors by employing complementary forms, textures, colors and layers always came naturally to me, and I’m now using those skills with precious materials to adorn bodies rather than rooms.”
In 2013, Wallach and her family had five feet of water flooding their house during Hurricane Sandy. As a result of this life-changing experience, a percentage of proceeds from her annual sales will be donated to Habitat For Humanity’s Disaster Response program.
Wallach’s debut collection features designs in 18k gold with a satin finish surrounding Art Deco-inspired gems like black onyx, turquoise, pearl, red coral, and white and black diamonds.
Rachael Clark, RachaelSARC
Originally from a small town in Northern Michigan, Rachael Clark, founder of RachaelSARC LLC, developed an interest in jewelry early in life. At age 15, she began working with a local artist who taught her the basics of manufacturing and design. This industry inspired Clark to pursue fine jewelry as her life-long passion and career. In 1999, she became a graduate gemologist through GIA and moved to New York City.
In New York, Clark worked with some of the most well known brands in the industry and the most rare diamonds and gems in the world, designing and handcrafting one-of-a-kind pieces. She launched her first collection in February 2014 with the help of her twin sister, a marketing executive. The first collection focuses on a modern classic aesthetic using unique design angles to create jewelry with a sense of confidence, sophistication and wearability. As a symbol of the personal meaning of this first collection, Clark named each piece after a close family member or friend who has inspired her in a meaningful way.
Clark understands the importance of quality and precision. A key mission of her brand is to provide the standards of quality and luxury of the industry’s most elite diamond houses, at a more modest price point. Her careful details, such as the earring backs or the angles of earring posts, make her pieces beautifully displayed on the wearer. She and her small team of jewelers make everything in New York.
Priyanka Kedia, AYVA Jewelry
Designer Priyanka Kedia was born and raised in a family of jewelers in Mumbai, India—a culture that loves jewelry and places a significant value on the tradition of buying and gifting jewelry. Inspired by her family’s centuries-old heritage and the strong women within it whose lives are told in gemstones and diamonds, Priyanka aims to carry on this celebration of love and life with jewelry among her Ayva collectors.
“Each piece I create is its own unique work of art that fuses India’s glittering heritage with a modern contemporary flair,” explains Kedia. With an affinity for European style, Italian design, and a newfound American way of life in San Francisco, Kedia works side by side with her husband in the business to keep tradition alive for their two young children whose monikers comprise her brand name of AYVA.
The 2016 Centurion Emerging Designer Competition winners with their trophies. From left: Ashley Brown of Stuller, Priyanka Kedia, Rachael Clark, Doryn Wallach, Hedda Schupak of Centurion.