All that glitters

This year, jewellery's been all about lacy looks and nature themes. Next year though, cubism will find its way to the spotlight, at least according to the Gem and Jewellery Institute of Thailand (GIT), which is backing up its prediction with a contest on the theme “Jewellery Design Inspired by Cubism”.
“The GIT Design Awards 2013 seek to encourage and provide design students as well as young jewellery designers and the general public with a professional platform to express their creativity and design talent. The contest is now in its seventh year,” says GIT director Pornsawat Wattanakul.
“The competition also promotes continuous development of qualified human resources within the gems and jewellery industry, and greater awareness of gems and jewellery businesses as a key economic driver,” she adds.
The awards, which were announced last week at Siam Paragon, rewarded Manop Boudang’s stunning “Astroid” collection with the top prize in the women’s jewellery category. Manop also picked up the popular vote prize.
Wichuda Taerapornpanich’s minimal “Lucky Number” collection won the grand prize in the men’s category.
The pair beat more than 400 contestants from all over the kingdom and went home with US$3,500 (Bt110,500) and a trophy from Niwatthamrong Boonsongpaisan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Commerce. Manop also received a further $1,000 for his popular vote prize. Thai stars Pakorn Chatborirak, Louis Scott, Ekkaphong Jongkesakorn, Kaneungnij Jaksamittanon, Peeranee Kongthai and Sara Legge acted as honorary models in the final round’s fashion show.
Manop was inspired by rhombus shape of traditional Thai desert “Kanom Peakpoon” for his collection, which features a geometric necklace with matching earrings and bracelets. The collection is made of black and clear crystal carved with silver and gold. Wichuda designed the number 1 into her smart necklace, cuff-link pin and ring for men collection. The first runner-up in the women’s category was Supparanun Kanchanakul’s with “Rose Surgery” with Autthawut Jenprasert’s “Phantasy” coming a close third. In the men’s category, Wichuda was followed by Teerapol Tanamontol’s “Natural Golden Cubism” and Supatchana Limwongse’s “Rare to Real”. The first runners up received $1,500, while the second runners up got $1,000.
The event also featured a showcase of 30 designs also on the “Cubism” theme created by GIT students, six of which were translated into actual jewellery pieces and presented on the catwalk by professional models. The exhibition aims to provide GIT students with an opportunity to showcase their creativity and design talent, as well as GIT’s expertise in developing design professionals.
“Since its inception in 2001, GIT has successfully trained more than 14,000 jewellery designers. By the end of 2013, more than 1,300 students are expected to complete their training at GIT. We also projecting an 20-per-cent increase in student numbers in 2014 and expect to train more than 3,000 design graduates by 2015,” Pornsawat says.
According to the GIT director, Thailand’s exports of gems and jewellery from January to August 2013 amounted to Bt199.746 billion, 23.47 per cent down from the same period last year. Gems and jewellery is now Thailand’s fourth-largest export earner accounting for 4.39 per cent of the country’s total export value. Major markets include Hong Kong, USA and Singapore with 24.93, 12.96 and 10.67 per cent respectively. Top export products for this industry are gold, genuine jewellery and diamonds.
“From an Asean perspective, Singapore is the region’s biggest trade partner, followed by Malaysia and Brunei. Top export performers in the Asean market are gold, silver jewellery, cut diamonds and cut precious stones,” says Pornsawat, adding that in the first eight months of this year, the total value of gems and jewellery exported to the Asean market surpassed Bt2.7 billion, a 12.5 per cent increase over the same period last year.”
“Thanks to steady economic growth in the region, the demand for gems and jewellery products is continuing to rise. Improvements in purchasing power have resulted in consumers getting more access to expensive gems and jewellery items. The Asean gems and jewellery market has therefore become very attractive to exporters. After the formation of AEC in 2015, Asean is expected to be the most important destination for Thai products.
“It is thus essential that all industry players place importance on this emerging market and develop jewellery products that match the needs of consumers in each Asean country.
Apart from building new business opportunities, focusing on Asean could help reduce the country’s dependence on exports to America and Europe, which are currently hard hit by economic crisis,” she concludes.