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Contact: Michelle Orman
Michelle@LupRocks.com
(212) 924-5588
WJA DIVA and D.E.F. Give Back in Las Vegas
Las Vegas, NV — Industry leaders, media, designers and manufacturers attended the WJA “DIVA Gives Back to D.E.F.” press conference on Monday, June 1 at the JCK Las Vegas Show as the winners of the 13th installment of this annual design competition were announced. Also in attendance were leaders from within both Women’s Jewelry Association (WJA) and Diamond Empowerment Fund (D.E.F.) who spoke to this newfound partnership.
“The DIVA competition gives women across the country an opportunity to showcase their design skills and win some money to support their craft,” noted WJA President Yancy Weinrich, “This year, by partnering with the Diamond Empowerment Fund, we’re also providing women with the additional opportunity of making a difference in the world.”
Co-Presidents of D.E.F., Dr. Benjamin Chavis and Neal Goldberg were also in attendance as well as Executive Director of D.E.F. Ellen Haddigan and several members of both the D.E.F. and WJA Board of Directors.
“Thank you all for coming out today to witness this great event, DIVA Gives Back!” bellowed Dr. Ben Chaviz, inspiring the crowd with his enthusiasm, “As the Co-President of the Board of D.E.F., I am excited to witness and be partners with the Women’s Jewelry Association, Rio Tinto and GIA in this groundbreaking event. Men are always known to play a major part in this industry, but here today, you are the leaders, you are the DIVAS! So give yourself a round of applause!”
The main focus of the press conference and the celebratory cocktail party that followed later that evening at LAVO at the Palazzo was, of course, the design competition, “We had a great assemblage of talent this time; designers from as far away as Bangalore were moved by the mission of D.E.F. and felt inspired by this year's theme,” enthused Cindy Edelstein, DIVA Design Competition Chair, “We saw designs that had deep explanations on how they could represent D.E.F.'s mission. It was a very heartfelt design contest and that sentiment was evident in the quality of submissions we received.”
This year’s competition had three categories. The first category, Canadian Diamond DIVA, required designers to create a unique piece of jewelry that incorporates Canadian Diamonds. The winning piece in this category will be manufactured by Waldman Diamond Company and auctioned off at the star studded Dallas Rocks: The Diamond Dinner and After Party gala benefit and auction to benefit D.E.F. in November, with the proceeds going to DEF.
• Honorable mention, Killian Rieder of Chamilia Inc.
• Honorable mention, Manya Tessler of Manya & Roumen.
• Winner, Susan Shannon of Lim Studio.
The second category was Red Carpet DIVA and the winning rendering from this category is going to be manufactured by the winning designer, again to be auctioned off at the Dallas Rocks event with the proceeds going to DEF.
• Honorable mention, Pallavi Foley of Tanishq
• Honorable mention, Yutao Liu of YL Consulting Designs
• Winner, Evelyn K. Huang of EvelynH Jewelry
The third category was the DIVA Gives Back category, where the designers were challenged with creating a piece of jewelry that will be mass manufactured and distributed through DEF, with a retail value of under $500, and the proceeds benefiting DEF.
• Honorable mention, Killian Rieder of Chamilia Inc.
• Honorable mention, Amy Levine of Amy L. Designs.
• Winner, Pamela Froman of Pamela Froman Fine Jewelry.
The winners in each category received $750 from the WJA Scholarship Fund as well as $200 worth of personalized cleaning products from Kingswood Company.
After the winners were announced at the press conference, Miss Africa U.S.A., Nyasha Zimucha, took the opportunity to address the crowd with some of her priorities as a representative of Africa in the United States, and how important it is for an industry such as the fine jewelry industry to embrace the initiatives put forth by both the WJA and D.E.F.
“I’ve always considered myself a DIVA,” quipped Ms. Zimucha to the eagerly listening crowd, “It’s nice to see the word associated with something as positive as this design competition and giving back!”
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