Awards Accepted in High Energy Event at Encore Theater

 
The 2025 COUTURE Design Awards was fueled by emotions, excitement and celebration of community. In addition to announcing the finalists and winners selected by a unique panel of judges in 12 categories, Best in Editors’ Choice was decided by attending media, and Best in People’s Choice finalists were established by COUTURE’s retail partners. Two additional highlights of the event included the presentation of the annual Cindy Edelstein Award and the introduction of a new, retail-focused award, Hidden Gem.
 
“With all the craziness in the world it’s nice to be back as a community to remember how strong we are together and how much joy we bring to the world,” Gannon Brousseau, Director of COUTURE, said when opening the show. “After all of the hard work each of you has diligently committed to making this event, and this community, so special, it’s great to finally take a moment to celebrate your success. Take a bow everyone, you deserve it!”

This year’s panel of judges included Kat Stokes of Korman Jewelers, designer Selim Mouzannar, Liza Urla from Gemologue, Jennifer Farrington of Mitchell Stores and Rachael Burrow Rummel of VERANDA, who put careful thought and consideration into deciding this year’s finalists and winners.

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When winning the award in Best in Gold, Lunar Rain designer, Melissa Chen, emoted from the stage, “This is so overwhelming. I’d like to thank the COUTURE team and the COUTURE community for constantly supporting us.”

Mimicking her sentiment was Vanessa Fernandez, who won the award for Best in Colored Gems Above $40,000 retail for a 18k gold necklace featuring over 38 carats of pear shape chrysoberyls and sapphires, “I’m so grateful to my community. This piece is so special. It took me 120 hours to make and I feel so supported by my community. As a bench jeweler and a goldsmith, I feel like I’m in the right place.”

Jeff Feero, Managing Partner of Alex Sepkus, was presented with the Cindy Edelstein Award, with his many nominators noting his penchant for discovering and nurturing talent in everyone around him. “As my partner Alex said, a good line of bull$hit is better than a bag of jewels, and he said, ‘you got it,’” Jeff exclaimed when accepting his award. “I am this version of Jeff Feero because of my people.”

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At the close of the evening, Jan Mohr, COUTURE’s long-standing Retailer Liaison, who is retiring after this year’s event, was surprised with a new award, Hidden Gem. Intended to honor an individual in the retail space who consistently showcases kindness, respect and dignity to everyone around them, and has a sense of style, grace and aplomb, even under pressure, the award highlights the monumental impact Jan has had on establishing the essence of COUTURE.

A complete list of winners and finalists is below.
 
BEST IN PLATINUM
1^st Place: r kheni
2^nd Place: PlatAfrica
3^rd Place: Roberto Demeglio

 
BEST IN BELOW $10K RETAIL
1^st Place: Three Stories
2^nd Place: By Pariah
3^rd Place: White Space

 
BEST IN BRIDAL
1^st Place: Mason and Books
2^nd Place: SEVAN BICAKCI
3^rd Place: Rosario Navia

 
BEST IN COLORED GEMSTONES BELOW $40K
1^st Place: Harwell Godfrey
2^nd Place: Lisa Nik
3^rd Place: Fullord

 
BEST IN COLORED GEMSTONES ABOVE $40K
1^st Place: Vanessa Fernandez
2^nd Place: Gyan Jaipur
3^rd Place: SOPHIA D

 
BEST IN PEARLS
1^st Place: Francesca Villa
2^nd Place: Mattia Cielo
3^rd Place: SHIHARA

 
EDITORS’ CHOICE
1^st Place: Robinson Pelham
2^nd Place: r kheni
3^rd Place: Carolina Neves

 
BEST IN DIAMONDS BELOW $40K
1^st Place: Bibi van der Velden
2^nd Place: AMPM
3^rd Place: Recarlo

 
BEST IN DIAMONDS ABOVE $40K
1^st Place: Busatti 1947
2^nd Place: Walters Faith
3^rd Place: Mariani

 
BEST IN GOLD
1^st Place: Lunar Rain
2^nd Place: Alice Herald
3^rd Place: Castro Smith

 
BEST IN INNOVATIVE
1^st Place: YUTAI
2^nd Place: House of Glik by Moritz Glik
3^rd Place: Bijules

BEST IN HAUTE COUTURE
1^st Place: CHANTECLER CAPRI
2^nd Place: Kavant & Sharart
3^rd Place: MOKSH

BEST IN DEBUTING
1^st Place: ZAHN-Z
2^nd Place: Circa 1700
3^rd Place: By Pariah

 
BEST IN PEOPLE’S CHOICE
1^st Place: SEVAN BICAKCI
2^nd Place: PlatAfrica
3^rd Place: Shinola

Related articles on COUTURE:

https://gem-spectrum.com/tag/couture

Related articles on trade shows by Emerald Holding, Inc.

https://gem-spectrum.com/tag/emerald-holding