A Story Of Success: How Ilgiz Fazulzyanov Received The Title Champion Of The Champions At The Hong Kong show

In practically every field of the arts there is an award equal in value to an Olympic Gold. Some spend years trying to win it while for others victory, and the global fame it brings, comes unexpectedly. The “Oscar” of the jewellery business is the biennial International Jewellery Design Excellence Award presented at the Hong Kong International Jewellery Show.

In less than a month, on 16–22 September, the show will open its doors to the public, and as I am preparing for it, I think it would be a good idea to tell you the success story of one of my countrymen – Ilgiz Fazulzyanov. It may motivate many designers to enter similar competitions themselves (not necessarily in Hong Kong), if they have not done so already.

Can you imagine how many pieces of jewellery the jury has to choose from? About a hundred different designs are sent in from all over the world. For that reason alone, just having your proposal selected for consideration is an achievement in itself, so what must it be like to make it through to the finals or even to win? In 2011 Ilgiz took part in the competition for the first time ever, with his Bullfinches Pendant just one of the 109 entries from 21 countries.

You could almost call it a fluke, since the photo of the piece that Ilgiz had emailed in “weighed” a mere 29 KB. You might think that is quite a small image, but nonetheless the panel of judges, headed by Lawrence Ma, the Chairman of the Jewellery Advisory Committee of Hong Kong’s Trade Development Council, could see the incredible talent that had gone into the making of the pendant, and Ilgiz passed the selection process. After that, it was not long before he received the judges’ highest commendation for the beauty and original design of his work, being awarded the Champion of the Champions title.

“Although my success was almost down to serendipity, I feel that my work did deserve to win. You see, I often travel to jewellery industry events and there’s much I have seen, so I know what an acute shortage of ideas and elementary skills there is in the world today. In my opinion, specialists in the field rely far too much on computers and this has led to a large amount of undoubtedly high-quality, but ‘lifeless’ work. Furthermore, there is a distinction between designers and jewellers and this doesn’t always result in understanding or success either,” said the craftsman, commenting on his achievement.

This success story does not end here, for consistency is a sign of real skill. At the next exhibition in 2013 Ilgiz demonstrated that he really is Champion of the Champions, coming first in the International Jewellery Design Excellence Award in Hong Kong for the second time in a row. Ilgiz Fazulzyanov is known as the Enamel Champion by industry specialists, and for good reason. If you have read my interview with him where we discussed this material, you will know that he can perform wonders with practically all types of enamel: Byzantine plique-à-jour, champlevé and the rare and complex fired Limoges enamel, a personal favourite of his. I do hope that reading this will inspire other designers and jewellers to enter industry competitions. For nothing can conceal true talent, not even the fuzziest of photos!