One of the most prestigious international competitions for jewelry makers is the annual Saul Bell Design Award that is given to several artists in several different categories of jewelry-making, including Gold/Platinum, Enamel, Beads (including pearls), Silver, PMC® (sponsored by the developer of Precious Metal Clay®, Mitsubishi Materials Corporation), and Holloware. The competition is in its ninth year and was named after the founder of Rio Grande, seller of tools, gemstones, metals, and equipment to jewelers. The finalists have already been named for 2009, but if you go to Saul Bell Design Award, you can see not only the finalists' designs, you can also see all the designs by finalists in past years of the competition, starting with the very first year, 2001. Prizes are awarded in the five jewelry categories, with five second-place winners, four first-place winners and one grand prize winner. Rio Grande is also in its second year with its "Emerging Artist" awards that are given to artists 18 years old and younger.

Did you know that a few deviants have not only participated in this competition, but have placed as either a finalist or have actually won one of the coveted prizes? ~WearableByDesign is one of the finalists this year! Her PMC® entry is in the thumb on the left and I gave her a DD last month for the piece in the second thumb:


In last year's competition, ~Haley-winter took second prize as an "Emerging Artist" with her sterling silver necklace with peridot, amethyst, lampworked glass, and stingray skin (see thumb below), which I gave her a DD for in June of last year. She is also featured in an ad for Rio Grande in the February issue of Jewelry Artist and the March issue of Art Jewelry magazine and on the cover of Rio Grande's new creative arts catalog.


~Ynawdar placed as a finalist in the Silver category in 2008 for the piece below and for which `Myana gave him a DD in December 2007.