As part of its tribute to Israel’s 60th anniversary, the Israel Diamond Institute Group of Companies (IDI) is hosting a jewellery design competition in conjunction with the Israel Ministry of Industry, Trade and Labor and the Israel Jewelry Manufacturers Association. The procedure of the competition has now entered the second phase.

To symbolilse the close connect the industry feels with Israel and its heritage, IDI’s design competition calls on the country’s jewellery designers to use Israeli diamonds, promoting cooperation between Israeli jewellery designers and the diamond industry.

Yehuda Kassif, Art and Jewelry Promotion Director for IDI and the coordinator of the competition, reports that 54 designs were submitted by 31 designers. The committee of judges, composed of leading jewellers, teachers from academic institutions with jewellery design disciplines, heads of design and jewellery-making programmes, representatives of the sponsoring organizations and diamantaires chose 24 designs for the second stage of the competition, in which actual pieces of jewellery will be produced from the designs. The jewellery must be submitted by March 1, 2009.

The competition is an effort to promote harmony between the jewellery designers and the diamond industry.

Although the competition guidelines state that no designs are to be made public at the second stage, Kassif noted, that some of the designs have been inspired by: the city of Tel Aviv with its famous Bauhau architecture, the sabra (cactus) plant, and the Dead Sea scrolls, as well as the more pedestrian Star of David and the hamsa (hand shaped amulet popular in Middle Eastern cultures.)