WJA names People's Choice winners

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WJA names People's Choice winners

Jewelry designers from Minnesota honored

June 30, 2008

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Minneapolis—Three Minnesota jewelry designers were selected for the People's Choice Awards on May 18 during the Designer Showcase founded by the Twin Cities chapter of the Women's Jewelry Association (WJA).

The Designer Showcase, held at Studio Vincent in Minneapolis, promoted jewelry design talent in the upper Midwest to area jewelry retailers.

The event co-chairs were Janel Russell of Janel Russell Designs and creator of the Mother and Child family-themed jewelry line, and Nancy Moeller of R.F. Moeller Jeweler.

The People's Choice Award winners are:

First Place: Steven Vincent of Studio Vincent in Minneapolis. Vincent's Muse Collection features 950 platinum and 18-karat gold coupled with stainless steel or Damascus steel and brilliant-cut diamonds or colored precious gems. His SV Studio Collection uses conflict-free Lazare Kaplan diamonds and precious and semi-precious gems, hand-set in platinum 950, palladium and 18-karat gold.

Rings by George Sawyer, second-place winner in the WJA-Twin Cities' People's Choice Awards.

Second Place: George Sawyer, Minneapolis. Sawyer's patterned metalwork interprets an ancient Japanese swordsmith's technique in which two colors of steel were folded into a swirling mass of bends and curls. His jewelry designs combine the technical process of creating masterful mokume gane with the organic process of designing and producing original, artful jewelry and objects.

Third Place: Kristen Kampsula of Kristen Kampsula Design in St. Paul. Kristen's one-of-a-kind, custom-designed pieces feature exotic gemstones in settings created to illuminate the rare beauty of each stone.

"This was an excellent opportunity for retailers to consider adding a unique product line to help differentiate their store's brand in the marketplace," Moeller said in a media release.

One-of-a-kind piece by Kristen Kampsula, third-place winner in the WJA-Twin Cities' People's Choice Awards.

Other designers exhibiting included:
* Kathy Bernu, Kathy Bernu Design, Woodbury, Minn.
* Liz Bucheit, Crown Trout Jewelers, Lanesboro, Minn.
* Andrew Bugher, Andrew Bugher Design, Little Canada, Minn.
* Emily Johnson, EC Design Studio, Minneapolis
* Kathy Kuhl, Kuhl Studio, Chanhassen, Minn.
* Judith Olson, Jeffrey Jewelry, Minneapolis
* Janel Russell, Janel Russell Designs, Little Canada, Minn.
* Rita Willaert, Exclusively Diamonds, Mankato, Minn.

WJA Twin Cities is one of 12 regional chapters of the Chicago Ridge, Ill.-based WJA, an organization founded in 1983 for professional women in the jewelry and watch industry.

For more information about the organization, visit its Web site, Womensjewelry.org.

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