What Inspires You? New Inspired Design Contest Announced

2009 INSPIRED DESIGN CONTEST

We invite members of the designer community to share their unique, original earring, ring, and pendant designs along with the story of their inspiration.

Show us quality, creative, manufacturable designs and tell us how you were inspired to create them for your chance to win cool prizes and cash.

PRIZES

First Prize:

Wacom CintiQ monitor - Get the best-of-class interactive pen experience, only available on the Wacom CintiQ interactive monitor. The 21.3” TFT screen delivers a highly sensitive pen-on-screen experience and a generous active area for working directly on large images, concepts,

and designs in the most natural way possible -Value: $1999 - plus $1,000 cash

Second Prize:

Canon EOS Rebel XSi camera and macro lens -Capture some incredible shots with the 12.2 Megapixel Canons EOS Rebel XSi Digital SLR camera with point-and-shoot ease,The EOS Rebel XSi brings staggering technological innovation to the masses. Use the Canon Macro Lens for a broader range of photographic applications. Lens specifications: 60 mm - F/2.8 -Value: $1100 - plus $500 cash

Third Prize:

iPod Touch - Get music, movies, games, applications and internet on Apple’s premier Touch-screen iPod. (32 GB) -Value: $399.00 - plus $100 cash

SUBMITTED DESIGNS

The submitting designer will keep all ownership of and copyrights to the designs submitted for the contest. The contributing designer grants Paragon Lake a license to the submitted designs under the Official Contest Rules and the Designer Agreement so that the submitted designs may be included in the Virtual Display Case (VDC) or the Paragon Lake website.

In addition to being considered for the Design Contest, any designs submitted for this contest, that are approved for display and sale on our Virtual Display Case (VDC) will receive a royalty for each piece sold as per our Designer Agreement. For additional details on royalty payments, please refer to the Designer Agreement within the Designer Portal.

The winning designs will also be featured on our website and will be showcased on Paragon Lake’s Virtual Display Case (VDC) as a Paragon Lake Design Contest Winner.

HOW TO ENTER THE DESIGN CONTEST

You must register to be a Paragon Lake designer to enter the Inspired Design Contest. No purchase or payment is required to enter. Entries should be uploaded through the Paragon

Lake Designer Portal.

Exhibit: Surrealist Jewels

Surrealist Jewels

Jewelled Starfish brooch by Salvador Dali was a shocker in more ways than one

By Bernadette Morra

Spontaneity was one feature of Surrealism, the art movement which had a significant impact on the worlds of design, theatre, fashion, film, architecture, and advertising through the 1930s.

But there is nothing spontaneous about Salvador Dali’s Starfish brooch. Each arm of the life-size pearl, diamond, ruby and emerald pin is fully articulated so that it can wrap around a hand like fingers.

The brooch is just one of nine extraordinary fine jewelry pieces included in Surreal Things, an exhibit at the Art Gallery of Ontario which runs until August 30, 2009. - for more -

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This show also features the jewelry works of Calder and art from most of the surrealist movement - Giorgio de Chirico, Marcel Duchamp, Max Ernst, René Magritte, Joan Miró, Meret Oppenheim, Man Ray and Elsa Schiaparelli. Looks like something worth looking into!

Now & Next: Pomerantz Joins Diamond World

Asia ’s oldest Jewelry & Gem Publisher, International Journal House has partnered with Howard M. Pomerantz, Roving Ambassador for the World Federation of Diamond Bourses (WFDB). Mr. Pomerantz will be writing "Technology and You" a feature column on the latest technological trends and developments in the diamond industry for their international magazine Diamond World.

The “NOW and NEXT” column intends to discuss trends in technology NOW and what should be considered for your business. “NOW and NEXT “ will endeavor to lead you to innovative technology that will help you set your own technology goals.

Speaking about the association, Diamond World’s editor Mr. Alok Kala said, “Competing in the International diamond trade makes it imperative for the Indian diamond fraternity to be aware of the latest technological advancements in the industry worldwide. Diamond World magazine has always endeavoured to make its readers up-to-date in their knowledge about the industry. At this moment, we are honoured to be associated with such an eminent person as Mr. Pomerantz and his articles would be of immense value to our readers.”

Howard Pomerantz says, “Since 1974, I have been associated with the Jewellery industry in India . My association with Diamond World magazine as a columnist will bring me closer to the Indian diamond fraternity.”

About Howard Pomerantz:

Born and raised in a retail diamond business family, Pomerantz holds a Presidential/Key Executive Masters Degree in International Marketing from Pepperdines’ prestigious Graduate School of Business. His fortes lies in international business dynamics as it relates to market change strategies. As past Executive Director of Gemological Institute of America Instruments (GIA), he designed and patented the digital GIA Gemmological Microscope. Pomerantz is known as the “Brand Father” of the GIA Facetware™.

Currently Mr. Pomerantz is president of Premier Diamond Technologies, advisors to multinational corporations on “Change Strategies”. He is also involved in numerous industry associations or has held board positions including the Manufacturing Jewellers and Suppliers of America (MJSA), the World Jewellery Confederation (CIBJO) and the Jewellers 24kt Club in Southern California . In 2006, Avi Paz bestowed an honorary title, “Ambassador to the United States ” from the Israel Diamond Exchange. Previously, he has given lectures on the new GIA Cut grade to the Indian diamond cutting fraternity.

Rio Tinto Design Contest - Winners Announced!

Photo: The Butterfly Drop earrings by Edney, Santa Barbara, Calif., took third place.

Reported by JCKOnline:

Rio Tinto Diamonds announced winners in the four categories of its Champagne Diamond Design Competition. Unveiled in May, the competition tasked entrants to create original champagne diamond jewelry designs in white or yellow gold, featuring stones in a range of sizes, clarities, and colors—from a light champagne color to a deep cognac hue.

...for more see the full story and pictures of the winning entries.

Modern Jeweler Suspends Publication

This item was posted on the Modern Jeweler blog:

After 108 years of serving the jewelry industry, Modern Jeweler is suspending publication. We’d like to thank all the people who worked hard over the years to make every issue worth reading. We’d also like to thank the retailers and manufacturers who shared their time and expertise with our readers each month. We hope to find a buyer who believes in the future of the jewelry industry as much as we do. But even if we don’t and the August issue of Modern Jeweler is truly the last, we are sure that the jewelry industry’s strong community and generosity of spirit will ensure its recovery is swift and its future is bright. We’ll certainly miss being there to cover it.

- Tim Murphy, Publisher, and Cheryl Kremkow, Editor-in-Chief

This is indeed a sad day in the Industry - Modern Jeweler was one of a handful of beautifully presented magazines to the trade. The quality of the publication is evident in the above cover from their last edition. The did justice to the pieces that graced their pages and Cheryl Kremkow had gathered a talented group of writers...they will be missed.

Antonio C. Bonanno Award for Excellence in Gemology

Call for Nominations for the Antonio C. Bonanno Award for Excellence in Gemology

The Accredited Gemologists Association is calling for nominations for The Antonio C. Bonanno Award for Excellence in Gemology. Named in honor of its founding father for his many contributions to the gemological field and his work to establish and maintain high professional standards, past recipients of this prestigious award include: this Dr. Henry Hanni of Switzerland; Alan Hodgkinson and Alan Jobbins of the United Kingdom; CR Beesley, Robert Crowningshield, John Koivula, Antoinette Matlins, Shane McClure, Jim Shigley, and Chris Smith of the United States. The award consists of a specially commissioned bronze plaque, along with a specially commissioned medallion and check for $2,000.

Winners are announced each year in Tucson, Arizona, at a Gala Awards Ceremony and Dinner-Dance held at the conclusion of the AGA Gemological Conference. This year’s conference and award ceremony will be held on February 3, 2010, during the Tucson International Gem Fair.

The sole requirement for this award, which is international in scope, is that the candidate must have made a significant contribution to the field of gemology, or defended and upheld gemological standards in a way that has significantly benefited the gem and jewelry community. Accomplishments can be in the field of education, research, instrumentation, or the discovery of innovative techniques or practices that can be applied to gemological procedures or standards.

To nominate someone for the Antonio C. Bonanno Award for Excellence in Gemology, please write a brief background statement (200 words or less) about the candidate and why you think this award is merited.

AGA submission form and details on their site.

ZAPP Conference

ZAPP Conference

Wednesday, August 19, 2009 12:00 pm -
Friday, August 21, 2009 2:00 pm (Mountain Time)

Curtis Hotel Denver
1405 Curtis Street
Denver, Colorado 80202
USA
Map and Directions

ZAPPlication.org™ will present a conference for system user artists and event administrators in August, 2009. The three-day conference is sponsored by the Western States Arts Federation (WESTAF), the manager of the ZAPP™ system, and will take place in downtown Denver at the Curtis Hotel from Wednesday, August 19, through Friday, August 21, 2009.

The 2009 ZAPP™ User Conference will bring together event administrators, artists, consultants, and event staff—all of whom use the ZAPP™ system or will soon join the more than 330 events and 40,000 artists currently using the system.

Main subject areas for various panel sessions and training workshops include: ZAPP™ system training and technical assistance, organizing the art fair community, the state of the art fair field, marketing and advertising for artists and events, adopting new technologies, the impact of the current economy on artists and events, tools for reducing financial burdens associated with art businesses, jury protocol and process, image formatting, and understanding image technology.

The cost for all conference attendees is $265 per person.

The ZAPP™ system, a non-profit partnership of eight major arts festivals and WESTAF, has been greeted with great enthusiasm by both art festival administrators and artists since its launch in 2004. ZAPP™ allows artists to apply to events online and art festivals to easily manage their application, administration, and jury processes online. The cost-effective system saves administrators and artists valuable time and money by eliminating the need for excessive data entry and application packet preparation, expensive repeat trips to the post office, and the use of slides or CDs of images altogether. With ZAPP™, event administrators have more time available to focus on the actual event without being bogged down in tedious administrative tasks. In addition, the ZAPP™ system's digital jury process ensures jurors see artists' work as they intended via high-quality digital images.