Diamond setters urged to join contest

Diamond setters urged to join contest

JAKARTA (JP): The Diamond Information Center is inviting as
many local diamond jewelry designers as possible to join the
Asia-Pacific diamond competition in Hong Kong next February.

Nani Budiman, a representative of the information center, said
over the weekend that the Asia-Pacific competition, to be held on
Feb. 16 and 17, is part of the biennial Diamonds International
Awards in 1996.

"During the competition in Hong Kong, 100 designers will be
chosen to represent the region," she said, adding that 100
designers will also be selected from America and another 100 from
Europe, Africa and the Middle East.

Judges in the diamond competition will consist of the renowned
Batik designer, Indonesia's Iwan Tirta, Japanese fashion
journalist Ruriko Horie and Philippine fashion "czar" Pitoy
Moreno.

Submitted designs will be judged on originality, creative use
of diamonds and appropriateness to today's tastes, she said.

She said the final board of judges will name the 30 best
designers in January, 1996.

Nani said that in a bid to promote the event among local
designers, art students and diamond traders, the Diamond
Information Center held a workshop at the Grand Hyatt on
Saturday.

Hendra Dharmawan, a winner of Diamond International Award held
by the Diamond Imported Association recently, said that the
workshop was an attempt to improve public interest in diamond
jewelry as most jewelry buyers in Indonesia still consider
diamonds merely an investments and not art.

The participants of Saturday's workshop, which featured Clara
Arifin, graduate of the Gemonological Institute of America,
ranged from professional designers, jewelry students from design
schools in Singapore and England to interested amateurs.

Nani said that Indonesia, which has an abundance of raw
materials, lags behind Singapore, Hong Kong and Thailand as the
main diamond jewelry design centers. (22)