AGTA Spectrum Awards™ Media Day

On October 24th I attended the AGTA (American Gem Trade Association) Awards™ Media Day at Ramscale Studio, 463 West Street. The media preview featured all of the jewelry and gemstone submissions and 2012 AGTA Spectrum Awards™ winners.

The competition was judged on October 22-23rd, with entries judged on the basis of overall beauty and wearability, innovative design, effective use of materials, quality of gemstones, quality of workmanship, broad-base consumer appeal and potential to generate positive publicity for natural colored gemstones.

Here are some of my favorites pieces below, with the most exquisite piece by Todd Reed, who won Best of Show. Todd Reed's jewelry amazes me every time. How did he think this one up?

Best of Show: Todd Reed, Todd Reed, Inc.

Palladium and 22K yellow gold locket featuring blue Moonstones, grey Diamonds (24.51 ctw.), blue Sapphires (17.34 ctw.) and white Diamonds (5.10 ctw.) opening to reveal a 76.03 ct. Moldavite Buddha

Left: Michael Endlich Pave Fine Jewelry Oakland, CA

22K yellow gold pendant featuring a 29.88 ct. long bar-cut bi-color Tourmaline accented with Diamonds (.18 ctw.)

Right: Ricardo Basta E. Eichberg, Inc. Century City, CA

Art Deco Platinum and 18K yellow gold necklace featuring two triangular cabochon Jade pieces (4.08 ctw.), nine pear-shaped Rubies (1.65 ctw.), custom-cut Onyx, round tsavorite Garnets and round Diamonds (1.38 ctw.)

Left: Glenn Bradford What's Your Sign by Glenn Bradford Port Washington, NY18K green gold pendant featuring pave blue Sapphires (2.50 ctw.) depicting the constellations and Diamonds (.35 ctw.) along with zodiac charms of Sapphires (.45 ctw.) and Diamonds (.35 ctw.) on a strand of faceted Sapphire beads (70 ctw.)

Right: Erica Courtney Erica Courtney Los Angeles, CA"Lotus" bracelet featuring Zultanite (30.48 ctw.), pink Sapphires (5.62 ctw.) and Diamonds (6.94 ctw.) set in yellow gold

Left: Belle Brooke Barer Belle Brooke Designs, Inc. Del Mar, CA

Oxidized sterling necklace featuring an approximately 30 ct. blue Chalcedony cabochon accented with Diamonds (.55 ctw.)

Right: Manya Tessler Manya & Roumen, LLC South Orange, NJ

18K yellow gold ring featuring a carved black Jade fish (38.0 ctw.) accented with fire Opals (.30 ctw.)

All images courtesy of agta.org

- Kim Weling

Todd Reed Jewelry Preview and Party

On July 27th, I attended Todd Reed's Jewelry Preview at Home Studios at 873 Broadway. Todd Reed jewelry is incredibly exquisite and features raw diamonds. The meticulously hand crafted pieces are luxurious works of art. The jewelry pieces are created in Todd's design studio in Boulder, Colorado, using high carat recycled gold and other precious metals with the most unique diamond specimens in the world.

Each jewelry piece I viewed seemed to have its own character. The raw diamonds have a natural shape about them, with a mesmerizing, breathtaking spectrum of colors.

Here are some images I took of the cuffs, rings, earrings and necklaces. These are some of the most amazing pieces I have ever seen! As I gazed upon some of the rings, I felt like I was staring into a gleaming galaxy!





















This cuff retails for $47,000. I felt like I had a piece of heaven on my wrist and didn't want to take it off. It was a little loose on but any of Todd Reed's jewelry can be customized for the perfect fit.
































After the preview we enjoyed a delicious culinary showcase prepared by Chef Hosea Rosenberg with Chef Lee Anne Wong.




- Kim Weling