This year, the 2009 AGTA GemFair™ Tucson show hosted the AGTA Spectrum Awards™ and a new award title altogether which is the brain child of AGTA and MVI Marketing’s Jewelry Consumer Opinion Council (JCOC) division, combine. The new award is known as the Consumer Choice Honors awards. “As an industry we have to start listening to the voice of the jewelry consumer, especially during these unprecedented economic times. The consumer will tell us what they want us to be and what products they want us to make” Martin Hurwitz, CEO of MVI, stated at the AGTA Dinner Dance and Spectrum Awards™ Gala.

The gala took place during the 2009 AGTA GemFair™ Tucson show. The winners of both the awards were felicitated at the gala and received their honours at the hands of Martin Hurwitz and Douglas K. Hucker, CEO of AGTA.

The winners were selected after JCOC created and deployed a consumer market research study to select the winning choices for the Consumer Choice Honors awards and one winning style, selected by JCOC consumer panel members for each of the five categories of the traditional AGTA Spectrum Awards™.

Bridal: Khai Le of Charles Koll Jewellers, San Diego, CA; Business/Day Wear: Pamela Froman of Pamela Froman Fine Jewelry, Los Angeles, CA;Classical Wear: Richard Krementz of Richard Krementz Gemstones, Springfield, NJ Evening Wear: Dennis deJonghe of deJonghe, Saratoga Springs, NY; Men’s Wear: Robert Pelliccia of J.R. Dunn Jewelers, Lighthouse Point, FL.