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Voting opens for 2025 MJSA Responsibly Sourced Design Challenge

MJSA competition cover Voting opens for 2025 MJSA Responsibly Sourced Design ChallengeReading Time: 3 minutes

Online voting has opened for the 2025 MJSA Responsibly Sourced Design Challenge, an annual competition that celebrates both creative design and responsible jewelry practices. The Challenge invites participating jewelry designers to create custom renderings based on the profile of a fictional client (supplied by MJSA) and incorporating responsibly sourced gems provided by the competition’s sponsor, Columbia Gem House, a leading supplier of responsibly sourced colored stones.

MJSA competition Voting opens for 2025 MJSA Responsibly Sourced Design Challenge

This year’s competition features nine designers who each responded to the profile of Tilly Cleary, an environmental scientist from New South Wales, Australia, with a deep connection to that country’s rugged Outback. Newly engaged, she has been bequeathed from her grandmother several gemstones from various parts of the Outback – Lightning Ridge Australian opals and blue and green Australian sapphires.

The designers who accepted the challenge to create a custom piece of jewelry using these responsible gems are:

  • Jiovanni Mancarella, owner of Lux Forge in Denver.
  • Kassandra Nicholson, owner of Kassandra Nicholson Jewelry Inc. in Los Angeles.
  • Delphine Leymarie, owner of Delphine Leymarie Fine Jewelry in New York City.
  • Laura Deakin, owner of Coral Covey Jewellery in Melbourne, Australia.
  • Allison Teague, owner of Allison Alane Jewelry Designs Ltd. in Brooklyn, New York.
  • Destené Styles, owner of House Third Rock in New York City.
  • Kelsey McQuown, owner of Moraine Jewelry in Leland, Michigan.
  • Silas Smith, a jewelry designer with Meridian Metalworks in Los Angeles.
  • Marilyn Brogan, owner of Marilyn Brogan Jewelry in Apalachicola, Florida.

The public is invited to review all entries, available on the Design Challenge 2025 page on MJSA.org, and vote for their favorite design. The voting deadline is Oct. 31.

The winning entry will be announced in the December 2025 issue of MJSA Journal and online.

In addition, Columbia Gem House has again donated the gems and materials so that the participating designers can bring their renderings to life. Those creations will be part of an online raffle, “Opals for Outback Heroes,” with 100% of every ticket sold will go toward helping the Lightning Ridge Rural Fire Brigade with much-needed upgrades.

The post Voting opens for 2025 MJSA Responsibly Sourced Design Challenge appeared first on Southern Jewelry News.



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