Artisan awards
Starry,
Starry
Night
Akshara Hasan along with a friend.
In a fitting, star-studded finale, the Artisan
Awards declared the winners against
the backdrop of glamour and beauty on
February 20, 2015 at the Grand Hyatt,
Mumbai. The stunning compere Mallaika
Arora Khan opened the show with her
witty comments, followed by a spellbinding, foot-tapping performance by the
band Bartenders.
The chief guest for the evening, Shaina
NC along with the guest of honour B.P.
Pandey, IAS, additional secretary &
financial adviser, ministry of commerce
and industry and GJEPC’s brand
ambassador Sonam Kapoor raised a toast
to the real stars of the night– the 12 bright
jewellery designers.
The Artisan Jewellery Design Awards
was conceptualised to reward the best
in jewellery design. Organised by the
GJEPC under the guidance of Milan
Choksi, co-convener, exhibition subcommittee (national) in partnership with
Vogue India, the awards aim to celebrate
the highest levels of artistry, innovation
Shaina NC
Mallaika Arora Khan
Shaheen Abbas
and individuality, elevating jewellery designers to their
rightful status as artists.
The inaugural edition celebrated I00 years of Indian
cinema and was split into four categories based on the four
iconic eras – Monochromatic Magic (black and white era),
Golden Glory (golden era), Colourama (masala films era)
and Avant-Garde (global era).
The awards received a phenomenal response of 800
entries and went through three rounds of screening to
select the best designs. In the first round of screening, the
technical team consisting of industry stalwarts Gautam
Banerjee, Devendra Layal and Laksh Pahuja shortlisted
over 300 sketch entries which were then further filtered to
40 finalists by eminent jury members Solitaire International
and Adorn managing editor Shanoo Bijlani, fashion
designer Payal Singhal, Vogue India editor Priya Tanna, and
NID design head Shimul Vyas Mehta at another round of
screening in August.
The final round had fashion designer Sabyasachi
Mukherjee, jewellery designer Farah Khan Ali, socialite
Pinky Reddy and art historian Usha R. Balakrishnan
deliberate over the best designs, selecting 12 winners.
Commenting on the occasion, Vipul Shah, chairman,
GJEPC, said, “Artisan awards is a culmination of designs,
creativity, jewellery and glamour to showcase a fitting
tribute to Indian cinema. It is recognition of excellence in
the gem and jewellery sector industry and sets a benchmark
for the industry in terms of its overall performance. I extend
my congratulations to all the award winners for their salutary
performance and hope they propel the jewellery industry to
even greater heights in the years to come.”
The winners will have the opportunity to intern with
prestigious international jewellery houses – Roberto Coin
and Swarovski. In addition, the winners will also visit the
Basel Jewellery and Watch Fair 2015 wherein their designs
will be displayed in the India Palace, besides winning
handsome cash prizes.
Sonam Kapoor was called on stage to hand over the
special awards, namely, ‘Emerging Jewellery Designer of the
Year Award’ to designer Suhani Pittie from Hyderabad; the
‘Most Accomplished Retailer in Design Excellence Award’
to Bangalore-based heritage jeweller Ganjam; and the ‘Most
Accomplished Artisan of Our Time Award’ to worldrenowned jewellery designer Viren Bhagat from Mumbai.
Bhagat, whose creations have been showcased at the
prestigious Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and
the Kremlin Museum in Moscow, commented, “For me,
the Golden Era is probably the most inspiring; the way the
women dressed, the way they carried themselves, that was
very elegant. To strive to be as original as you can, we should
look within. I think India is one of the greatest sources of
inspiration for all of us.”
MONOCHROMATIC
MAGIC
The Silent era to the Talkies
1913-1930
First
GOLDEN
GLORY
Runner-up
The Golden Era of Indian Cinema
Astha Gupta, Delhi
COLOURAMA
The Masala Movies Era
Mfg. Sponsor: Jewel Goldi
(India), Mumbai
Film Inspiration:
Alam-Ara
“The majestic movie, Alam-Ara was famous for its
melodious songs and dancing. The moveable ring
depicts the transition from the old to the new era,
and is inspired by the rolling movie reel, showcasing
the dance movements of the characters in the
movie. The central piece of the ring hinges on a
mechanism using jump rings that help the dancing
characters to rotate in clockwise direction; the
rotating ring also resembles the ongoing movie.”
Winner
Swati Kadam, Surat
KP Sanghvi Jewels Pvt.
Ltd., Surat
Film Inspiration:
Raja Harishchandra
“My fancy ring is inspired by the legendary founder of Indian cinema,
Dhundiraj Govind Phalke, who started the concept of moving images.
I tried to capture it in my sketch with the help of a laser cut-out
film reel, which is evocative of the powerful performances in Raja
Harishchandra, India’s first silent film from the black and white era.”
Second
Runner-up
Soni Amin, Jaipur
Mfg. Sponsor: Bherumal
Shamandas, Mumbai
Film Inspiration:
Devdas
60 solitaire INTERNATIONAL march 2015
“Life becomes so much more fulfilling when we surround
ourselves with what is precious. This beautiful necklace
is inspired by the movie Devdas, an epic film from the
black and white period. The choker draws references
from the movie reel that encompasses the whole
spectrum of human emotions. The piece of jewellery may
evoke joy, wonder, sorrow, fascination and each motif
showcases the actors playing their role in the film. Like
the film, there is a lot of drama in this piece.”
THE AVANT-G
The Era of Global
Artisan awards
MONOCHROMATIC
MAGIC
The Silent era to the Talkies
GOLDEN GLORY
The Golden Era of Indian Cinema
1940s-1960s
Winner
First
Runner-up
COLOURAMA
The
MasalaAdnani,
Movies Era
Natasha
Mumbai
THE AVANT-GARDE
The Era of Global Reach
Mfg. Sponsor: Fusions,
Mumbai
Film Inspiration:
An Evening in Paris
Meghna Bag, Thane
Laxmi Dia Jewel Pvt Ltd.,
Mumbai
Film Inspiration:
An Evening in Paris
“The design is synonymous
to the grandeur, opulence
and pizzazz of the then
existent Bollywood style. The
lavish earrings beautifully
capture the essence of the
movie, An Evening in Paris.”
“This design depicts the movie, An Evening in Paris. In
search of true love Deepa (Sharmila Tagore) goes to
Paris. After many ups and downs, she finds her true love
in Shyam/Sam (Shammi Kapoor), and in the process,
also encounters her twin sister Suzy. The two ruby
flowers depict the twin sisters and the complete gold wire
work with diamond pave represents Paris, by using the
architectural inspiration from the famous Eiffel Tower.”
Second
Runner-up
Kosha Shah, Mumbai
Shilpi Jewellers, Mumbai
Film Inspiration:
Love in Tokyo
“The double-finger rotating ring draws inspiration from the movie
Love in Tokyo. Though shaped like a Japanese geisha fan, I have
used asymmetrical sections and each wing is embellished with
different techniques of gold surfacing like granulation, naqashi,
filigree, tar kam, aari work, meena and texturing. The sign of love
in Japanese has been used on one of the wings highlighted in red
meena. The word Sayonara has been articulated with wire work and
green meena. The double-finger ring is made of many layers and has
a watch motor in between that will make each wing move and rotate
on its own. A gleaming ruby is seen in the centre of the ring.”
solitaire INTERNATIONAL march 2015 61
N GLORY
of Indian Cinema
Artisan awards
Winner
Subhankar Bhowmick, Mumbai
COLOURAMA
The Masala Movies Era
1970s-1990s
THESponsor:
AVANT-GARDE
Mfg.
Swarnsarita Jewellers
Era
of Global Reach
Pvt.The
Ltd.,
Mumbai
Film Inspiration:
Sholay
“My creation is inspired by Gabbar
Singh, the dacoit in film Sholay,
who loots and plunders the village
of Ramgarh. He has a sadistic
personality and thrives on killing
whoever crosses his path.”
Second
Runner-up
Sunita Shekhawat, Jaipur
Midas Signature Jewellery Pvt.
Ltd., Rajasthan
Film Inspiration:
Hum Aapke Hain Kaun
First
Runner-up
Queeta Rawat, Delhi
Titan Company Ltd, New Delhi
Film Inspiration:
Sholay
“This necklace is inspired by the movie Sholay (meaning flames). The
pattern itself is a literal inspiration from the original movie poster of
Sholay. The inner core of the necklace spreads out as a white burst
symbolizing the innocence of the fun-loving, small-time crooks, Jai and
Veeru. As our protagonists get embroiled in violence, so the necklace
starts turning yellow to light orange colour and finally the anger turns
into full-fledged violence and burns deep orange. The necklace is
made of small and big elements denoting the episodes of our life.
It’s about human beings who are innocent to begin with but with
experience may become bitter and get consumed with anger.”
62 solitaire INTERNATIONAL march 2015
“My design is inspired by the movie
Hum Aapke Hain Kaun, reflecting
the fashion of that era. The kundanmeena chand baalis are adorned
with delicate lotus motifs in pink
meena, and studded with diamond
polkis and blue sapphires.”
URAMA
a Movies Era
Artisan awards
Winner
Shrutika Patankar, Mumbai
Fabulous Unrounds, Mumbai
Film Inspiration:
Black
“The movie Black inspired these Braille ear studs. Black is
about using the senses, the sense of touch, and the sense
of smell. These studs work as a concept: ‘What if beauty is to
be perceived by how it smells and what it feels like or what it
conveys when you touch it? Just like the character of Michelle
(Rani Mukherjee) in the movie. She sees the world in Black!
What if Michelle would have wanted a jewellery piece for
herself? These spherical earrings have the most balanced
form. Ergonomically it can’t harm her and opens to hide her
favourite fragrance in it. A mogra bud, an orange peel, a small
cardamom, a sandalwood piece, whatever is her mood for the
day. It has a message articulated with diamonds that reads
‘100 Years Of Indian Cinema’ written in Braille.”
THE AVANT-GARDE
The Era of Global Reach
2000 Onwards
First
Runner-up
Himani Harish, Noida
Mfg. Sponsor:
KGK Creation India Pvt. Ltd., Mumbai
Film Inspiration:
Queen
“The idea for this sketch has been taken
from the movie Queen. In the sketch, there
is a top view that showcases the full design,
side view A that displays the layering of the
petals that stay together on the same axis
one under the other, so that they can rotate;
and, side view B makes the layering and
functioning of the petals more clear.”
64 solitaire INTERNATIONAL march 2015
Second
Runner-up
Zohara Moorthy, Mumbai
Film Inspiration:
Queen
“The piece portrays the manifestation of courage to rise to
the occasion, battle the odds and emerge victorious as shown
in the movie Queen. The protagonist’s flight from despair to
determination, all the while firmly rooted in one’s beliefs, and
displaying an unshakable sense of identity is highlighted with
patina. The praiseworthy traits that embellish her character
are expressed in pearls.” n