The time has come for the retailers of America to cast their votes in the first annual JCK Jewelers Choice Awards.

As the name suggests, these are the first industry design awards voted on exclusively by retailers. We’ve launched the competition to celebrate good design. It’s our hope that taking the time to vote will both entertain and inform you, our retail readers, as you explore new product—and maybe even inspire you to add something new to your mix.

If you’re a retailer (an employee or owner of a fine-jewelry retail store), please visit www.jckonline.com/jewelerschoiceawards to begin the process. You’ll see that we ask for your name, store name, and e-mail address to get started (and confirm that you are a retailer). You’ll then be taken to a list of categories. Each expands into multiple price ranges. Once you click on a price range, you’ll see a small photo of each piece. Click on each small photo to see up to four large images of the piece. Once you’ve viewed all the pieces in a price range, select your favorite and move on to the next range or category.

As a special incentive to vote in every category and range, our sister company, JCK Events, has joined us with a special sweepstakes offer. For each vote you make, you’ll receive an entry to win a fabulous room in the Venetian for the duration of the 2008 JCK Show ~ Las Vegas. Please see the site for details.

So, vote soon—you have until Dec. 5—and vote for each category and price range. The more you vote, the more jewelry you’ll see and the more chances you’ll have to win. Most of all, have fun.

PS: Congrats to our amazing editorial team on their 2007 Eddie and Ozzie Award wins! Presented by Folio magazine (the trade magazine for trade magazines), the Eddies celebrate editorial excellence, and the Ozzies celebrate design. We’re thrilled that Rob Bates won a Gold Eddie for his piece “Whatever Became of Sierra Leone?” in the October 2006 issue of JCK and that the JCK Luxury team (editor Carrie Soucy, art director Todd Gast, writer Jennifer Heebner, and copy editor Toni Rumore) won a Silver Eddie for the Winter 2007 issue and a Silver Ozzie in the Best Feature Design category for “Design Through the Decades” in the Summer 2006 issue. Well done, team!