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By Emily Stegman
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Jennifer Lam, the first recipient of the H. Goldie jewelry design competition, wearing her winning "Oceanic" jewelry suite in Basel, Switzerland. The award included a trip to the BaselWorld show.
Photo courtesy of Jennifer Lam
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GIA London student Jennifer Lam was named winner of the first H. Goldie jewelry design competition in March. The award was established by Mark Boston and Mark Walker of H. Goldie & Co. Ltd. and was open to all spring 2007 Jewelry Design students at GIA London.
Edward Johnson, director of GIA London, said the award will be granted during each Jewelry Design course, which is scheduled two to three times a year in London.
Participants are required to draft a design for a set of diamond jewelry in yellow and/or white gold; the set can consist of either a pendant and earrings for women or cuff links and a tie bar or tie tack for men. The drawings are evaluated by three judges for quality of painting, technique, design idea and overall presentation. Entrants must also include a mission statement on how they plan to use their jewelry design skills in the future.
Lam said she used the sea as the motif for her "Oceanic" design – a pendant and earring set. The waves are made of 18K yellow gold, surrounded by hollow circular frames of 18K white gold and accented with a spread of melee diamonds ranging from 0.01 to 0.15 carats to create a "splash effect."
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Jennifer Lam's winning pendant (above) and earring (below) design, "Oceanic."
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"The jewelry design course at GIA helped me to find a way to convey my illustration skills through beautiful jewelry drawings," Lam said. "After learning all the fundamental technical skills and doing challenging projects, I was confident to create some attractive pieces that are comfortable and durable."
Her first prize winnings included £1,000 (approx. $2,000), an additional £500 (approx. $1,000) for travel expenses to BaselWorld in April, and a private consultation at the event with Walker, who is the creative director for H. Goldie.
Lam said the opportunity to attend BaselWorld was the best part of the award. She went through the show with Walker to meet industry members and forecast jewelry trends for the upcoming year. "We also talked about how the trends in watches and jewelry influence each other. I found the experience invaluable as I didn't know much about watches before going to the show," Lam said.
"Jennifer and I spent several hours walking around the show together, sharing ideas and chatting about the world of jewelry. I came away with a very good impression of her," Walker said. "She is inquisitive, creative, inspired and, most importantly, loves jewelry. I am sure that she is the right person to earn the first H. Goldie jewelry design competition award and will go on to use this experience as an important stepping stone."
Johnson said he was impressed by Lam's preparedness.
"For one, she already had her pieces made and was wearing them. She brought business cards and seized the opportunity to publicize herself and her design. She was positive, smiled the whole way through and I think she has a fantastic future ahead of her," Johnson said.
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