Call for Entries – Halstead Bead Grant

Call for Entries – Jewelry Design Business Development Grant

Halstead Bead, Inc. is calling for entries to its fifth annual Business Development Grant competition for new American jewelry designers entering the bridge jewelry trade. The deadline for packet submissions is June 9, 2010. The winner of the 2010 Grant will receive $6,000 in cash and jewelry supplies as well as other benefits.

The Halstead Bead Jewelry Business Development Grant differs from other jewelry industry competitions and awards because of its emphasis on business skills. Entrants must demonstrate not only extraordinary design, but also a strong business strategy for their start-up. The application experience promotes the business planning required to make a jewelry brand commercially viable at the national level.

Jewelry designers utilizing a wide variety of fabrication techniques including casting, lampworking, metal clay, beading, or metalsmithing are eligible to enter the competition.

Entrepreneur candidates must be US citizens who began their small businesses after January 1, 2007. Their design companies must focus on “bridge” jewelry which is the segment between costume jewelry and fine jewelry that includes accessories in sterling silver, Argentium, semi-precious stones, crystal, freshwater pearls and other similar materials.

Complete application details can be found at http://www.halsteadbead.com/Grant

Candidates must submit a design portfolio, resume and answers to several business planning questions. Applications must be received between April 15 and June 9, 2010. The grant website also includes several helpful articles on launching a national jewelry brand as well as information on past winners and finalists. Previous grant winners include: VOSTENAKstudios, Bridgland Studios, Belle Brooke Designs, and Ananda Khalsa Jewelry.

The grant sponsor, Halstead Bead, Inc., is one of North America’s leading jewelry supply wholesalers. The firm was established 37 years ago and now supplies thousands of component resellers and jewelry manufacturers around the globe. Halstead Bead, Inc. is wholesale only and sells findings, chain, wire, sheet & beads for the bridge jewelry segment.

2009 Winner: VOSTENAKstudios (Cottonwood, AZ)

The VOSTENAKstudios line is contemporary with fluid lines and great attention to detail. Ostenak’s unique style is easily recognizable in every piece. She creates one of-a-kind statement necklaces, hairpieces and earrings with delicately intertwined metalwork in her Woven Collection. Her Ribbon Collection consists of more simple hammered styles with a highly reflective finish.

See the blog post about the 2009 Winner here!

All That Glitters...in San Diego...

All That Glitters: San Diego Museum Launches Two-Year Exhibition

Pala International to provide 100 gems and minerals

The San Diego Natural History Museum is opening an exciting new exhibit for all those gem lovers out there. “All that Glitters: The Splendor & Science of Gems and Minerals” will include mineral specimens, faceted gemstones, and designer jewelry. It tells the story from the formation of gems within the Earth to Man’s creations employing all the wonderful gem materials. The exhibit will appropriately focus on the fascinating array of gems and minerals found in San Diego County, along with a wide variety from major gem producing regions around the Earth.

Over 100 gems and mineral specimens will be provided by Pala International. Prominent names in the industry like Tiffany & Co., Van Cleef & Arpels, and Cartier will provide a wide range of original jewelry pieces. Harvard University, the Smithsonian, the American Museum of Natural History, and the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston all will be adding to the extravaganza with more jewels and mineral specimens.

The exhibit opens May 15, 2010 and is scheduled to run through April 2012. “In addition to demonstrating the ‘splendor and science of gems and minerals,’ All That Glitters will have a playful side,” says Exhibition Curator and Graduate Gemologist Elise B. Misiorowski. “Jewels and carvings incorporating natural-history themes will give children as well as adults delightful surprises to hunt for. How many jeweled butterflies, birds, and flowers can you find? Which case contains the Faberge carved pig with diamond eyes?”

Excerpt from the January Gem News from Pala International

ISA Celebrates 30 Years with Assets 2010 Conference

INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY OF APPRAISERS CELEBRATES THIRTY YEARS WITH “ASSETS 2010” CONFERENCE IN TORONTO

ISA will host a Conference April 30-May 3 with Museum tours and seminars by noted authorities in the fields of Fine Art, Antiques and Residential Contents and Gems & Jewelry

(Toronto, Canada) The International Society of Appraisers will celebrate its thirtieth birthday with an in depth three pronged Conference in Toronto on April 30-May 3. The Conference, entitled “Assets 2010”, will consist of programs in Fine Arts, Antiques and Residential Contents and Gems & Jewelry. Conference coordinator Kathryn Minard, ISA, CAPP, and conference co-chairs Irene Szylinger and Catherine Williams and Jim Poag, Gems and Jewelry program coordinator have arranged a lineup of credentialed powerhouse presenters for each session, a pair of dynamic keynote speakers, Robert Ramsay and David Ben, and scheduled tours of such important venues as the Art Gallery of Ontario, the Royal Ontario Museum, the Gardiner Museum of Ceramics, the Bata Shoe Museum, the Textile Museum of Canada, Corona Jewelry Company, the Stephen Bulger Gallery and a tour of a private residence featuring Jamieson Tribal Art.

According to Minard one of the main points of emphasis for this Conference is affordability and flexibility. ISA has arranged very generous rates for participants at the host hotel, the Park Hyatt Toronto in downtown Ontario. It is close to convenient public transportation and is surrounded by a wide variety of eating establishments for all tastes and budgets.

While the Conference will have three distinct sections, participants will be encouraged to pick and choose among sessions to accommodate the cross-over interests of many attendees.

The Fine Art program will feature sessions on the art market, contemporary photography, Inuit art, authentication, insurance appraisals, cross border appraisals and report writing. The Antiques and Residential Contents program will feature sessions on hallmarks, quilts, Victorian, style and design, paperweights, insurance appraisals, appraising pop culture, cross border appraisals and report writing.

The Gems & Jewelry program adds Carole Tanenbaum, a costume jewelry expert; Dave Sawatzky from Korite International, the maker of Ammolite jewelry from Calgary; Ravi Poddar, a representative from Ontario based Byrex Gems; John Borzak, author of the Rolex Report and Paul Cassarino, ISA, CASPP, presenter of the report writing workshop.

The Conference itself is very reasonably priced beginning at $575 for ISA members with Super Saver early registration which ends January 31. Rates are slightly higher after that. Special rates are available for single day events and for spouses/guests. The tours and events are also very reasonably priced. To register online go to http://www.assets2010.org.

Site of the course is the Park Hyatt Toronto, 4 Avenue Road, Toronto, Ontario M5R 2E8 Canada, (416) 925-1234. A group discount rate is available through ISA for accommodations at the hotel. Hotel registration is available online at the above address. For more information contact the International Society of Appraisers, 737 N. Michigan Ave., Suite 2100, Chicago IL 60611, phone (312) 981-6778, fax (312) 981-6787, email isa@isa-appraisers.org, website www.isa-appraisers.org