Couture Design Awards: My personal experience of the judges and winners of the competition

June 17, 2017

By Katerina Perez

10 min read

The Couture Design Awards honour achievements in jewellery design, and are held annually as part of the Couture exhibition in Las Vegas. Five judges from various branches of the jewellery industry shortlist the top three pieces in the categories of “Gold”, “Platinum”, “Diamonds”, “Gemstones”, “Innovation”, “Début” and a few others, before announcing the winner. This year, alongside designer Yossi Harari; the Director of Accessories at Vanity Fair, Daisy Shaw; boutique buyer at Stanley Korshak, Melissa Geiser; and co-owner of the Von Bargen’s Jewelry boutique Julia Thom, I judged the pieces, in all 14 categories.

In the four years since katerinaperez.com was established, I have been lucky enough to hold in my hands and study thousands of pieces of jewellery, for which people have begun to call me “the eye of the industry”. I’ve seen about ten thousand works, which have allowed me to form my own taste and look at what pieces are most worthy of being proclaimed the very best. During the discussion of the pieces at the awards, my opinion did not always coincide with other members of the judging panel, and it really was the versatile approach to their evaluation which allowed for an adequate assessment of the pieces, with regard to their aesthetics, performance quality, sellability and ease of wearing, along with certain other factors.

Katerina Perez, Julie Thom and Daisy Shaw judging Couture Design Awards

Katerina Perez, Julie Thom and Daisy Shaw judging Couture Design Awards

 Katerina Perez looking at jewellery from one of the categories

Katerina Perez looking at jewellery from one of the categories

 Gemstone necklace being judged

Gemstone necklace being judged

 Yossi Harari and Melissa Geiser

Yossi Harari and Melissa Geiser

The selection process for the winners took place in several stages. To begin, we awarded points between 1 and 5 to each piece in every category, separately. Then, on the eve of the awards ceremony itself, we met to review and tally up the scores, looked at the pieces which had received the most points, and finally decided which jewels should be awarded winner. With more detailed analysis and fittings, some pieces seemed less attractive, whilst others were better than they had been in photos or in displays. Once again, this proved that the finest evaluation for a product can only be achieved by holding it in your own two hands.

 

The smallest debates happened over the categories “Diamonds over 20K”, in which Fernando Jorge won; “Gold”, in which the brand Cadar won; “Coloured gems under 20K”, won by Amali; and “Haute Couture”, in which the trophy was taken by the Bruni family from Pasquale Bruni. The “Platinum” category proved to be more interesting and contentious. The Henrich & Denzel bracelet which won first prize was not selected initially. We asked for the piece to be brought over after none of the jewellery selected in the earlier rounds seemed worthy of first place. Once the platinum bracelet had been seen again, however, we unanimously decided that it was the perfect embodiment of the “Platinum” category.

Couture Design Awards Judges: Katerina Perez, Melissa Geiser, Yossi Harari, Daisy Shaw and Julie Thom

Couture Design Awards Judges: Katerina Perez, Melissa Geiser, Yossi Harari, Daisy Shaw and Julie Thom

Most of the jewellery I liked was in the “Pearls” category, because each piece was beautiful and unique. The Yvel bracelet almost wrestled the crown from the hands of the Mizuki piece, because the brand’s earrings were too heavy for comfortable wearing, albeit incredibly attractive. The most difficult category, though, was probably “Début”. It included about 30 works, and they were all so different that it was hard to evaluate them with any concrete justifications. In the end, I think we just had to trust our gut instincts and we chose what caught everyone’s eye at first sight.

 

So, let’s take a closer look at each category and the winners of the Couture Design Awards

Bridal

Winner - Jade Trau

Winner - Jade Trau

 First Runner Up - Mark Patterson

First Runner Up - Mark Patterson

 Second Runner Up - Eva Fehren

Second Runner Up - Eva Fehren

Colored Gems Above

Winner - John Hardy

Winner - John Hardy

 First Runner Up - Bayco

First Runner Up - Bayco

 Second Runner Up - Sutra

Second Runner Up - Sutra

Colored Gems Below

Winner - Amali

Winner - Amali

 First Runner Up - Andrea Fohrman

First Runner Up - Andrea Fohrman

 Second Runner Up - Carol Kauffman

Second Runner Up - Carol Kauffman

Debuting

Winner - Leyla Abdollahi London

Winner - Leyla Abdollahi London

 First Runner Up - Nadine Ghosn

First Runner Up - Nadine Ghosn

 Second Runner Up - Julien Riad Sahyoun

Second Runner Up - Julien Riad Sahyoun

Diamonds Above

Winner - Fernando Jorge

Winner - Fernando Jorge

 First Runner Up - Anita Ko

First Runner Up - Anita Ko

 Second Runner Up - Mariani

Second Runner Up - Mariani

Diamonds Below

Winner - Garavelli

Winner - Garavelli

 First Runner Up - Roule&Co

First Runner Up - Roule&Co

 Second Runner Up - Qayten

Second Runner Up - Qayten

Editor’s Choice

Winner - Giovanni Ferraris

Winner - Giovanni Ferraris

 First Runner Up - Fernando Jorge

First Runner Up - Fernando Jorge

 Second Runner Up - Gebruder Schaffrath

Second Runner Up - Gebruder Schaffrath

Gold

Winner - Cadar

Winner - Cadar

 First Runner Up - Luisa Rosas

First Runner Up - Luisa Rosas

 Second Runner Up - Elena Votsi

Second Runner Up - Elena Votsi

Haute Couture

Winner - Pasquale Bruni

Winner - Pasquale Bruni

 First Runner Up - Kavant and Sharart

First Runner Up - Kavant and Sharart

 Second Runner Up - Picchiotti

Second Runner Up - Picchiotti

Innovative

Winner - Nadine Ghosn

Winner - Nadine Ghosn

 First Runner Up - Marie Mas

First Runner Up - Marie Mas

 Second Runner Up - Serafino Consoli

Second Runner Up - Serafino Consoli

Men’s

Winner - Furrer Jacot

Winner - Furrer Jacot

 First Runner Up - Jan Leslie

First Runner Up - Jan Leslie

 Second Runner Up - Pat Flynn

Second Runner Up - Pat Flynn

Pearls

Winner - Yvel

Winner - Yvel

 First Runner Up - Mizuki

First Runner Up - Mizuki

 Second Runner Up - Todd Reed

Second Runner Up - Todd Reed

People’s Choice

Winner - Mariani

Winner - Mariani

 First Runner Up - Jorg Heinz

First Runner Up - Jorg Heinz

 Second Runner Up - King Baby

Second Runner Up - King Baby

Platinum

Winner - Henrich&Denzel

Winner - Henrich&Denzel

 First Runner Up - Misui

First Runner Up - Misui

 Second Runner Up - Alishan

Second Runner Up - Alishan

Silver

Winner - Atelier Zobel

Winner - Atelier Zobel

 First Runner Up - Emanuela Duca

First Runner Up - Emanuela Duca

 Second Runner Up - Aida Bergsen

Second Runner Up - Aida Bergsen

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