HRD Awards 2011

HRD Awards 2011
International Diamond Jewellery Competition
TOI & MOI - YOU & ME - JIJ & IK
www.hrdawards.com
deadline for registration 15/10/2010

Contact
For additional information about the HRD Awards 2011, please contact:

Jennie Baeten
Telephone: +32 3 222 05 40
Email: jennie.baeten@awdc.be

Barbara Descheemaecker
Telephone: +32 3 222 05 43
Email: barbara.descheemaecker@awdc.be

MAILING ADDRESS:

Antwerp World Diamond Centre (AWDC)
HRD AWARDS 2011
Hoveniersstraat 22,
BE -2018 Antwerpen, Belgium
T. + 32 3 222 05 11
F. + 32 3 222 05 46
Email: info@awdc.be
www.awdc.be

"You and Me" should be the source of inspiration to design an innovative and contemporary diamond jewel, symbolising every possible facet of dualism you can imagine. It’s the mystery of two elements that are irreversibly intertwined, sometimes complementary, sometimes in contradiction.

Plato’s being and becoming, Aristotle’s form and matter, yin and yang in Chinese philosophy; the concept of dualism is common to both Western and Eastern thinking. Where Western dualism focuses on contradicting and often opposing components, like good and evil, war and peace, Eastern philosophy describes it as two parts of one that complement each other. In both paradigms each of two elements cannot exist without the other; it’s impossible to know if you are happy when you have never been sad, you can’t feel cold if you haven’t felt hot, ‘evil’ has no meaning without the concept ‘good’…

In Western beliefs dualism mostly reflects conflicting or opposing components: the thin, naïve and quiet Laurel is opposed to the plump, arrogant and loud Hardy, but none of the two has been as successful solo as they were as a team.

Eastern mysticism, like Taoism, has very little to do with Western dualism, because it represents a balance rather than conflict. Yin and yang for example are opposites but co-exist in harmony, existing only through each other, complementing and mutually controlling one another. To achieve balance, yin creates yang and yang creates yin.

Two become One. You and Me.
The HRD Awards is a competitive forum organised every two years by the Antwerp World Diamond Centre (AWDC) for talented jewellery designers. Its goal is to inspire creativity in the design of contemporary diamond jewellery.

The competition aims at extending the limits of the modern diamond jewel and avant-garde ideas. The artist is given free rein and exclusive creations are a must.

The contest also seeks to promote diamonds in general and Antwerp in particular as a "centre of excellence."

Rules
Participants

The competition is international and open to professional and non-professional designers, students, graduates, teachers, jewellers, goldsmiths, etc.

Participation is on an individual and not a company basis.

Participation is free of charge.

Criteria for diamond jewellery pieces

Submitted entries must be original designs, which have previously not been put on display or commercialised.

Diamonds must be an absolutely indispensable part of the jewel. A jewellery item should contain a minimum of 1,00 ct of diamonds and a maximum of 25,00 cts.

Precious metals and/or other materials used need to correspond with the aura of the diamonds in the jewellery item. This does not exclude new and innovative materials.

Fancy shapes and fancy colour diamond can be used in moderate way.

Rough diamonds are not accepted.

Designs will be judged according to originality, wearability, the creative use of diamonds and technical skill.

Because the HRD Awards Collection tours the world, it is important to take into consideration possible damage that could be caused during display, transportation and packing. For this reason, it is strongly recommended to avoid the inclusion of fine chains in a design and make sure the jewellery item is manufactured well.

Size of jewellery item

There is no limit on the size of jewellery item, but it should be possible to disassemble large (life size) jewellery pieces.

Transport of jewellery item

The HRD Awards collection should be easy to transport in lightweight boxes fit for air cargo. Badly packed jewels will not be accepted.

Winning jewellery design

The winning jewellery design will be selected by an international jury, which will select it as the best “unique” jewellery piece from among the pieces that reach the final round of the contest.

The designer of the winning jewellery design will be awarded a cash prize of 5000 euro.

AWDC will buy the winning for a maximum value of 12.500 euro*. (* Jury may decide otherwise)

The winning jewellery piece will become an item in the permanent display of the Diamond Museum Province of Antwerp, which is visited annually by 100.000 visitors.

Competition procedures

Registration

All candidates have to submit their application by post via the enclosed registration form and submit the technical fiche for each jewellery design or register and fill out the design forms on the contest’s dedicated website at www.hrdawards.com.

The deadline for registration is October 15, 2010. Entries received after the deadline will be returned to sender.

When registering, entrants should submit drawing(s) of their design(s), photos or photos of models.

Specifications for drawings, photos or photos of models

Size: A4 (210 x 297 mm.)

Full colour allowed.

Top and bottom should be marked.

Name and address of entrant must be included on the back side of every design.

Finished jewels will not be accepted.

There is no restriction to the number of designs submitted per person, but is obligatory to fill out and submit a technical fiche for each design.

Participants

The competition is international and open to professional and non-professional designers, students, graduates, teachers, jewellers, goldsmiths, etc.

Participation is on an individual and not a company basis.

Participation is free of charge.

Criteria

Submitted entries must be original designs, which haven’t been on display or commercialised previously.

Diamonds must be an absolutely indispensable part of the jewel. A jewellery item should contain a minimum of 1,00 ct of diamonds and a maximum of 25,00 ct.

Precious metals and/or other materials used need to correspond with the aura of the diamonds in the jewellery item. This does not exclude new and innovative materials.

Fancy shapes and fancy colour diamond can be used in moderate way.

Rough diamonds are not accepted.

Designs will be judged on originality, wearability, the creative use of diamonds and technical skill.

Because the HRD Awards Collection tours the world it is important to take into consideration possible damage that could be caused during display, transportation and packing. For this reason, it is strongly recommended to avoid the inclusion of fine chains in a design and make sure the jewellery item is manufactured well.

Size of jewellery item

There is no limit on the size of the jewellery item, but it should be possible to disassemble large (life size) jewellery pieces.

Transport of jewellery item

The HRD Awards collection has to be easy to transport in lightweight boxes fit for air cargo. Badly packed jewels will not be accepted.

Winning jewellery design

The winning jewellery design is selected by an international jury, as the best “unique” jewellery piece among the pieces that reach the final round of the contest.

The designer of the winning jewellery design will be awarded a cash prize of 5000 euro.

AWDC commits to buying the winning jewel for a maximum value of 12.500 euro*. (* Jury may decide otherwise)

The winning jewellery piece will become an item in the permanent display of the Diamond Museum Province of Antwerp, which is visited annually by over 100.000 visitors.

Selection of laureates

A professional jury selects the laureates on the basis of the drawings, photos or photos of models.

The decision of the jury and the composition of the jury are final and are not contestable.

The selected laureates are informed by mail.

Submission of jewellery items

The finalists are required to make and submit their finished jewellery piece(s) to AWDC by March 31st, 2011.

The jewel(s) can be manufactured by a third party.

The designer is responsible for insuring all materials related to the jewellery item until such time as the jewellery item is submitted to AWDC. From that moment on, the jewel will be insured by AWDC.

All jewellery items have to be easy to transport in lightweight boxes fit for air cargo. Badly packed jewels are not accepted.

Selection of finalists and winning jewellery design

An international jury selects five finalists based on the finished jewellery items. From these five the international jury awards the winning jewellery design.

The decision of the jury and its composition is final and not contestable.

All jewels will be numbered and displayed anonymously.

Every member of the jury will be provided with sufficient time to evaluate the jewels.

Each jewel has to be accompanied by a technical description and the source of inspiration for the jewel.

Each jury member selects his or her favourite jewels.

Only jewellery items receiving a minimum of 3 votes will be considered.

Jury members will discuss the remaining jewellery items, each member of the jury can clarify his or her opinion. The jury members judge on innovation, technique, source of inspiration, and the creative use of diamonds.

The jury members vote on the five finalists.

The jury members will vote for the winning jewellery design among these five finalists.

Sponsors

Jewellery Sponsors

For the creation of the jewellery item, a designer reaching the final round can be sponsored by a private firm, jewellery manufacturer or another party. The designer can freely choose the sponsor of the jewellery item.

Diamond Sponsors

Preferably diamond companies with registered office in Belgium sponsor the diamonds used in the jewellery pieces.

Each designer reaching the final round will need to submit a list of the diamonds he or she needs, noting number, shapes, sizes and colours. (minimum 1 carat and maximum 25 carat of diamonds). AWDC organises a sponsor meeting with the Antwerp Diamond dealers in order to find the diamond sponsors. AWDC informs each designer reaching the final round as soon as a diamond sponsor is found for his or her item.

The diamond sponsor is appointed by allotment. The designer has no free choice as to whom will sponsor the diamonds used in his or her jewellery piece. Once a diamond sponsor has been appointed, it is the designer’s responsibility to contact his sponsor personally and come to an agreement, AWDC is no way involved in this process.

Other

AWDC has the right to interpret and/or change the rules.