DESIGN COMMUNITY SAYS THANKS FOR JOB WELL DONE

Late in July, the American Jewelry Design Council presented its Benny award for outstanding contributions to the well-being of the council’s work, and that of all American jewelry designers. It’s only the second time the award was made; the first, last year, honored Mort Abelson for his leading role in helping fresh, usually young design talent by introducing so much of it at the JA International Jewelry shows. The honor was well deserved.

This year the honor was equally well deserved and it went to Cindy Edelstein, a young woman who dedicates a huge amount of time, effort and talent to furthering industry and consumer appreciation of quality jewelry design. In addition to her overall work on behalf of the design community, I appreciate what Cindy has done both for JCK and for The JCK Show. She was for some years the magazine’s fashion editor and for the past four years she has been an active consultant to the show.

Her major show responsibility is to organize the highly successful Design Center. Those of you who were in Las Vegas for the June event this year know what a spectacular presentation it was. At Cindy’s urging, The JCK Show is the only major jewelry event where an impartial jury selects which exhibitors qualify for display space. Also at Cindy’s urging, we now have a Designers’ Live Auction at the show, a big attraction and a great charitable effort.

It’s a happy coincidence that this focus on American jewelry design was the central theme of last month’s issue. Throughout the spring months, our fashion editor, Hedda Schupak, visited and talked with many of the nation’s leading jewelry designers to gather information for a story on what constitutes the central idea behind American design. Her findings, revealed in a spectacular display, are that the American spirit expresses itself through individuality, not a common theme. Our designers are as varied in their talents and expression as they are in their individual lives.

There was a time not so long ago when Europe, and particularly Italy, stood out as the undisputed leader in jewelry design. That is no longer so. Italy, Germany and other European countries continue to create beautiful jewelry but today the freshness and innovation of American design take second place to no one.

It’s fitting that two other individuals who have played and continue to play pivotal roles in this design story also had a special place in the July issue – namely on the cover. So, along with our plaudits to Mort Abelson, Cindy Edelstein and our own Hedda Schupak, we also give a special salute to Henry Dunay and Jose Hess.