HRD Antwerp Awards Designs

(IDEX Online News) – Today, we are featuring four more of the designs selected to go through to the finals of the HRD Awards.

A total of 31 designers were selected out of a record 2,013 designs submitted for the biennial contest. The overall winner and four finalists will be selected in July.

The diamonds used in the designs are sponsored by Antwerp diamantaires and international diamond companies.

The theme for the 2013 awards is Trompe-l’oeil, with designers invited to explore the themes of deception and illusion to produce diamond jewelry items that look at the boundary between image and reality.

The HRD Awards aims to be a showcase for talented jewelry designers from across the world with the aim of promoting creativity in contemporary diamond jewelry. They also serve to introduce young designers to the international diamond jewelry industry.

In the final stage, five winning items will be selected by an international jury. The designer of the first prize will receive a $10,000 prize, while the four finalists will each receive $2,500. For the first time in the history of the awards, the public is being invited to take part by voting for what they consider to be the best design.

The No Wisdom brooch created by Soraya Camilo of Brazil is, she says, a creature “meandering in deep marine waters, sliding through the fractured surfaces of the ocean floor like a centipede with its uncountable pairs of legs. It is a brooch that surfaces from the depths of the ocean, like a shell or a seahorse.”

Meanwhile, Needle and Thread, by Ma Chao from China takes its inspiration from the needle and thread used for everyday sewing. It uses diamonds as thread and aims to show the effect of skillful sewing.

Angela Chen from Canada created Kitty Clutch. “The clutch mimics the curves of a cat's back, but once you touch it, you realize that the '’fur'’ is made of engraved metal.

Fang Xiu, from China, designed A Bowl of Stars, a bowl-shaped hand jewel with mirroring inner walls. “The centre of the inlay is set with diamonds, so that when you look into the bowl, a myriad of shiny diamonds conquers your senses, just like the stars in the sky.”

The No Wisdom brooch created by Soraya Camilo.

Needle and Thread by Ma Chao from China.

Kitty Clutch by Angel Chen from Canada.

A Bowl of Stars by Fang Xiu from China.