Guerina Yoo, was selected by Gemological Institute of America (GIA) Korea, as a finalist amongst four for the Hoge Raad voor Diamant (HRD) Awards. Four finalists and one winner in the contest were announced in June. Their pieces will be exhibit at the HRD Awards Collection 2009, being displayed at the Antwerp Diamond Museum in September, followed by eight other countries throughout 2010.
Yoo’s hair piece is inspired by the Korean fairy tale “The Woodsman and the Fairy.” Conventionally, Korean brides’ wear hair accessories of yellow gold, but Yoo has created one in dark bamboo to depict a sad girl forced to marry. The veil attached to the bamboo stick symbolises a robe of feathers, set with 506 brilliant-cut diamonds, with a total weight of 15.62 carats.
The HRD Awards contest is organized by the Antwerp World Diamond Centre to encourage creativity and design skills of young jewellery designers in contemporary diamond jewellery. The contest this year received 1,089 design entries prepared by 654 artists from 40 countries, centering around the theme of a fairytale. Winners were chosen for the artist’s excellence, innovation, enthusiasm and craftsmanship.
“We are extremely proud of Yoo for receiving this recognition,” said Seung Hae-Moon, GIA Education managing director of South Pacific Asia. “For her creative piece to be selected from more than a thousand other designs from all over the world is a testament to how the Institute’s students help set the standard of excellence on a global level.”