HRD AWARDS 2015
At the sixteenth HRD Awards 2015 International Diamond Jewellery Competition, a world-class diamond jewelry design competition, designer Tomoko Kodera’s creation was awarded First Prize. This was the first time a Japanese jewelry designer had received First Prize at the competition.
This competition is held biennially and is organized by HRD Antwerp Institute of Gemmology, a non-profit organization acting as the official representative of the diamond community in Belgium. The theme for the 2015 competition was “A la Carte – A Culinary Journey,” and it was chosen to correspond with the overall food-related theme “Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life” of the Milan International Expo, which took place from May 1 to October 31, 2015.
Over 1,500 designs were sent in from all over the world, from which 31 impeccable designs were selected. 29 of those designs were developed into actual creations, including Tomoko Kodera’s two works “Rice Husks” and “Ohanami Bento,” and were put on display at the Belgium Pavillion at the Milan International Expo as the winning collection. An expert jury of international renown, including jewelry specialists from the Antwerp Royal Academy of Fine Arts, DIVA Museum for Diamonds, Jewellery and Silver, Christie's, and Sotheby’s, came together to form a panel of twelve judges and selected the four most exemplary creations to receive awards, with a fifth and final creation being selected via an online general vote.
On October 29, 2015, at the HRD Awards ceremony in Antwerp, Belgium, Tomoko Kodera’s creation “Rice Husks,” a diamond brooch comprising approximately 400 individual pieces, was awarded First Prize. Following the competition, all 29 works from the winning collection were showcased at international jewelry exhibitions and galleries, earning widespread recognition. The creative and innovative diamond designs also garnered high acclaim in media and press coverage.
This competition is held biennially and is organized by HRD Antwerp Institute of Gemmology, a non-profit organization acting as the official representative of the diamond community in Belgium. The theme for the 2015 competition was “A la Carte – A Culinary Journey,” and it was chosen to correspond with the overall food-related theme “Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life” of the Milan International Expo, which took place from May 1 to October 31, 2015.
Over 1,500 designs were sent in from all over the world, from which 31 impeccable designs were selected. 29 of those designs were developed into actual creations, including Tomoko Kodera’s two works “Rice Husks” and “Ohanami Bento,” and were put on display at the Belgium Pavillion at the Milan International Expo as the winning collection. An expert jury of international renown, including jewelry specialists from the Antwerp Royal Academy of Fine Arts, DIVA Museum for Diamonds, Jewellery and Silver, Christie's, and Sotheby’s, came together to form a panel of twelve judges and selected the four most exemplary creations to receive awards, with a fifth and final creation being selected via an online general vote.
On October 29, 2015, at the HRD Awards ceremony in Antwerp, Belgium, Tomoko Kodera’s creation “Rice Husks,” a diamond brooch comprising approximately 400 individual pieces, was awarded First Prize. Following the competition, all 29 works from the winning collection were showcased at international jewelry exhibitions and galleries, earning widespread recognition. The creative and innovative diamond designs also garnered high acclaim in media and press coverage.
HRD Awards 2015
International Diamond Jewellery Competition
Tomoko Kodera became the first japanese designer
to win First Prize at the competition.
I saw a man in the middle of the city. He was wearing a coat which had several rice husks stuck to it.
I wondered how that was. Where had he come from? Rice husks are seen only around rice fields.
©Kodera Tomoko
At that moment, my mind began to weave a story:
the smell of the rice harvest, the rhythmic sound of the husker,
the aroma of freshly cooked rice drifting from a grandmother’s kitchen,
the glossy sheen of each cooked grain, a dinner table surrounded by family.
When you wear this jewelry or see someone wearing it,
the doors of your imagination will open, one by one.