Winners announced at 2010 Lonmin awards
LONDON, September 12, 2010 – The winning designs of the Lonmin Design Innovation Award 2010 were finally revealed at International Jewellery London (IJL) this week from 5 – 8 September at Earls Court.
The jewellery was also worn by models at a spectacular party and awards ceremony at the Serpentine Gallery Pavilion on the evening of Monday 6 September, 2010.
The winners in the Emerging Designers category are:
Alexander Davis ‘Diadem’ ring and ‘DNAture’ pendant
Haruko Horikawa ‘Fluttering Feather’ pendant
Fangfang Qiao ‘Ice and Water’ earrings
Katie Rowland ‘Shakti’ pendant and ‘Hydra’ ring
The winners in the Established Designers category are:
John Bradley ‘Affirmation’ bracelet
James Powell ‘Persephone’ hair piece
Luke Rose ‘Icon’ necklace
Miranda Wallis ‘Capture’ ring
The Lonmin Design Innovation Award organised by Blue Inc, aims to recognise and reward outstanding design in platinum and on a more general level to push the design standards of all contemporary jewellery to greater heights.
Alexander Davis Jewellery
Sponsored by Lonmin, one of the world’s largest producers of platinum, and supported by Johnson Matthey and IJL, the competition, now in its eighth year, is divided into two categories. “Emerging Designers” recognises designers with less than five years’ commercial experience, and “Established Designers” gives its attention to those who have been in the business for more than five years.
Fangfang Qiao’s Ice and Water earrings
The eight winners from the platinum-based competition were selected from drawings of their design by a distinguished panel of judges in April, and these were subsequently made up as finished pieces of jewellery. The competition saw over 100 entries across the two categories.
The standard of entries this year was particularly high with many unique and excellent concepts. Both categories yielded exciting and innovative work, proving once again that jewellery designers in the UK are leading the world.
Wilma Swarts, of sponsor Lonmin, said “The Lonmin Design Innovation Award is about pushing the boundaries of design in the most precious metal, platinum. It’s about understanding the application of platinum in jewellery and capturing the spirit of the metal. We were overwhelmed once again by the high standard and the number of entries we had this year”.
At the party the jewellery was worn by eight models (a model each to show off the winners’ pieces), dressed in Sulaimi Brookman garments. Following short speeches by event director Nicole Cooper and event sponsor Lonmin’s marketing director, Wilma Swarts, the winners were called onto the stage to accept their winners’ certificate and a bottle of champagne. IJL’s event manager, Sam Willoughby presented the prizes to the emerging designers. (IJL supports that particular category).
John Bradley’s ‘Affirmation’ bracelet
In addition to the pieces being showcased at IJL and the awards party, an exclusive marketing and PR campaign has been organised to help promote the designers and their work, including a gallery on the DIA website www.designinnovationawards.co.uk.
