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INDUSTRY NEWS: PGI CALLS FOR DESIGN ENTIRES, CARTIER SUPPORTS DIAMOND DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVE, MORE February 29, 2012 (0 comments)
PGI Calls For Entries For Platinum Innovation Awards
New York, NY—Platinum Guild International (PGI-USA), in conjunction with JCK Las Vegas, announces a call for entries for the third annual JCK 2012 Platinum Innovation Awards. The JCK show is slated for June 1-4 at Mandalay Bay.
The deadline to submit design images is April 4, 2012 and final product submissions are due April 19, 2012. Exhibitors from JCK, as well as the LUXURY, Elite Enclave and AGTA shows are welcome to submit designs. The competition acknowledges innovation and skill in platinum design in both bridal and fashion jewelry, and will designate awards in the following categories:
- Platinum Engagement Ring
- Entry Platinum Engagement Ring (semi-mounts under $2500 retail)
- Platinum Wedding Band
- Platinum Men’s Jewelry
- Entry Platinum Fashion Jewelry (under $3500 retail)
- Platinum Red Carpet Jewelry
- Platinum and Colored Gemstone Jewelry
Entrants are welcome to submit one product per category and will instantly become “nominees” into this year’s competition. All nominees will have their designs professionally photographed and featured on PGI-USA’s consumer website, www.preciousplatinum.com, and press website, as they await the chance to win the Platinum Innovation Awards’ prize package. Awards will be granted twice in each category, based on one Editor’s Choice and one Buyer’s Choice Award. One special Best in Show Award will be given as a culmination from all votes.
Judging will begin on May 2 at an exclusive Editor Preview Event in New York City. Editor’s choices will not be revealed until the show.
This year, PGI anticipates the greatest response yet, as last year’s entries more than doubled from those of 2011. “We are thrilled at the enthusiasm that the Platinum Innovation Awards have been greeted with in the past 2 years and look forward to collaborating with JCK Las Vegas once again,” said Huw Daniel, president of PGI-USA. “Through the passion and creativity of our entrants, this competition serves to inspire the use of platinum in jewelry and to help our manufacturer and retail partners grow their platinum business. We are truly excited to see what inspiration this year will bring.”
Yancy Weinrich, industry vice president of JCK Events, added, “PGI has done a fantastic job in executing a program that creates excitement on the show floor for both retailers and designers and promotes the beauty and advantages of working with platinum. We look forward to another successful show.”
Winners in each of the seven categories will be announced on June 3, 2012, and will receive a prize package valued at $50,000, including:
- Official JCK 2012 Platinum Innovation Awards trophy
- Inclusion in the Design Gallery of PGI’s consumer website, www.preciousplatinum.com, which hosts more than 40,000 unique visitors per month and PGI’s press website, www.pgi-press.com, which draws top fashion and bridal editors
- Inclusion in PGI’s integrated consumer and trade marketing campaigns
- Professional photography of the winning product (including the digital file for reproduction in the winner’s own advertising/online/media placements)
- Inclusion in all post-contest press outreach
- Inclusion in a congratulatory ad in a jewelry trade publication
- A customized poster featuring the winning product and denoting it as an award winner
- Customized in-store signage package for up to 100 of the winner’s top retail customers
- PGI will conduct an in-store, facilitated sales training session at a store of the winner’s choosing.
All nominees will be acknowledged at the Platinum Innovation Award press conference and winners’ celebration cocktail party on Sunday, June 3 from 5:30-6:30 PM in Palm room A, where winning designs will be showcased.
For complete details and to submit designs, click here. Additional questions may be directed to Amanda Tropila, PGI-USA, at atropila@pgiglobal.com or (212) 404-1605. The deadline for all entries is April 4, 2012 and finished product is due April 19, 2012.
DDI International Receives Grant From Cartier
Paris, France--The Diamond Development Initiative International (DDI International) has been awarded a grant from renowned French jeweler and watchmaker Cartier.
The Cartier support will focus mainly on the implementation of “Development Diamond Standards” for artisanally produced diamonds. In Sierra Leone, DDI International is working with local leaders and civil society to identify sites where diamonds are produced in ways that are environmentally sound, and where diggers receive a fair price, working under safe conditions. Their diamonds will then be tracked through the trading, polishing and retail system to provide customers with gems that go beyond standard definitions of “ethical” and “fair trade” products. These pilots, if successful, stand to revolutionize the development prospects for miners like these and their communities, where an estimated 15% of the world’s gem diamonds are produced.
The Cartier grant will also provide general support, assisting DDII in several projects now under way, including human rights training in Africa, and a major registration project in the Democratic Republic of Congo which is bringing more than 70,000 miners into the formal sector.
Dorothée Gizenga, DDII’s Executive Director said, “I have just returned from a month in the Congo and I can say that Cartier’s support is not just a vote of support for our work, it is a solid example of how the concept of corporate social responsibility has expanded beyond the immediate corporate environment to a wider world of development possibilities.”
“Cartier is delighted to support DDI’s ‘Development Diamond Standards’ projectand believes it is a powerful and effective way to drive positive change in the artisanal diamond mining sector,” says Bernard Fornas, Cartier’s president and CEO.
There are an estimated 1.3 million artisanal diamond diggers across Africa, serving as the primary breadwinner for families that total as many as 10 million people. These diggers earn on average, about a dollar a day, and there are tens of thousands like them in South America as well.
“We are extremely pleased with the support from Cartier international,” said Ian Smillie, chair of the DDII board of directors. “We believe that the positive impact at the source of the diamond pipeline will, in time, be enormous.”
For more information, please contact Dorothée Gizenga, DDI International: (613) 565-0507 or Katharina Baigneres, Cartier International, katharina.feller-baigneres@cartier.com.
WDC May Meeting Registration Now Open
New York, NY—Online registration has begun for the 8th Annual Meeting of the World Diamond Council, which will take place May 13-14, 2012, in Vicenza, Italy and is hosted by Fiera di Vicenza. Participants are invited to register via a dedicated website, click here.
The dedicated site will also allow registrants to book hotel accommodation in Abano Terme, a resort town located between Vicenza and Venice, which is one of Europe's most popular spa resorts. There is no registration fee for the WDC Annual Meeting, and the official hotels are offering participants a special package, which can be extended both before and after the event.
The first day will include a WDC board meeting and a get-together reception in the evening. The second day will include the WDC Plenary session, and it will conclude with a gala dinner.