Angie Boothroyd wins Lonmin Design Innovation Award 2009!

Angie Boothroyd wins Lonmin Design Innovation Award 2009!

The winning designs of the Lonmin Design Innovation Award 2009 were shown for the first time at International Jewellery London (IJL) in September 2009 at Earls Court. The eight winners of the platinum-based competition, which is now in its seventh year, were selected from drawings of their design by a top panel of judges* in May, and these have now been made up as finished pieces of jewellery.

The Lonmin Design Innovation Award organised by Blue Inc, publisher of the Platinum Collection aims to recognise and reward outstanding design in platinum. Sponsored by Lonmin, one of the world’s largest producers of platinum, and supported by Johnson Matthey and IJL, the awards have over the years played a major role in pushing the design standards of jewellery to greater heights.

The competition is divided into two categories. “Emerging Designers” recognises designers with less than five years’ commercial experience, and “Established Designers” gives its attention to those who have been in the business for more than five years. There are four winners in each category.

Established designers:
Angie Boothroyd
Jodie Hook
Fei Liu
Tom Rucker

Emerging designers:
Takafumi Inuzuka
Nina Koutibashvili
Katie Rowland
Zelda Wong

About Angie Boothroyd's "Flourish" earrings (pictured left):

Description: Each earring consists of two ‘blooms’ each made up from six conical shapes fitted together in an innovative structure with a tubular centre. The earrings are made from a very thin 0.2mm platinum sheet, suspended from a discreet earwire. The design is finished off with a diamond briolette.

Inspirations behind the design: The piece draws inspiration from the ideas of structure, pattern and symmetry which are frequent motifs in Angie’s work. The floral shapes originated in paper-bending experiments with scrap paper, scissors and a stapler. Translating these ideas into metal proved difficult, especially connecting the conical shapes ‘in the round’ however the end result transformed the series of geometric ideas into the natural floral forms of the final piece, creating in the process jewellery which is both attractive and feminine.

In addition to the pieces being displayed on the Johnson Matthey precious metal marketing stand (E100) at IJL, and the pieces were also worn by models at a spectacular party and awards ceremony at the Serpentine Gallery Pavilion on 6 September. The winning designs will soon be embarking on a press tour.

Martyn Pugh commented: “The competition goes from strength to strength with an increasing number of original entries. The winners demonstrate the strength and depth of British design talent in their striking and original creations”.

*The judges:
Sarah Carpin, Editor, Retail Jeweller
Lesley Craze, Lesley Craze Gallery
Ruth Donaldson, Platinum Guild International
Nick Fitch, Nicholas James
Albert Jamieson, Lonmin
Shaun Leane, Shaun Leane
Syreeta Tranfield, International Jewellery London
Neill Swan, Johnson Matthey
Stephen Webster, Stephen Webster
Martyn Pugh, Martyn Pugh
Chair - Nicole Cooper, Blue Inc Events Ltd

For further information, visit www.designinnovationawards.co.uk, telephone 020 8995 5006 or email julie@blueincevents.co.uk