De Beers has said that the winners of its Shining Light awards will be announced in November 2019 in Gaborne, Botswana.

This year, a record 100 young jewellery designers from four countries have submitted their entries for the competition, the theme of which is ‘Heroines and Heritage’.

Recently, six jewellery and design experts spent two days judging the collections presented by young designers from Botswana, Namibia, South Africa, and Canada – to which the competition was opened for the first time only in this, the 2018-19 edition.

“The competition, which provides a design platform to showcase talent and provides opportunities for the young designers to develop their skills in a commercial world, was launched in South Africa in 1996, then in Botswana and Namibia in 2008,” De Beers said sketching in the background to the awards.

Further, the Company announced that there will be one winner and two runners-up for each country; the designs from the winners will be developed into jewellery pieces to be unveiled at the finale.

The prizes for the winners are attractive: the winner from each country will pick up a one-year scholarship at the Poli Design Polytechnic in Milan, Italy; while the runners-up will receive a three-month internship with Forevermark, also in Milan, and the third-placed designers will benefit from a one-year scholarship at Akapo Jewellers in South Africa.

“The awards have evolved into a competition where candidates design commercial collections,” De Beers stated. “As such, it has become an essential element of De Beers Group’s beneficiation strategy, which promotes wealth creation and skills development by supporting diamond-related activities in the countries where the diamonds were produced.”

Pic Cap: Corporate Affairs’ Rebecca Quartey-Papafio (first left) and Pat Dambe (third left) join judges (from left) Labi Kapo (South Africa), Raes Abdoola (Botswana), Professor Alba Cappellieri (Milan, Italy), Mothusi Lesolle (Botswana) and Andreas Herrle (Namibia).