You might wonder, darlings, why we’re talking about the 2023 AGTA Spectrum Awards in summer of 2024? It’s a reasonable question, and I promise I have an answer.

I can’t forget the 2023 AGTA Spectrum Awards!

The American Gemstone Trade Association (AGTA) Spectrum Awards are a prestigious jewelry industry competition that gathers submissions from the finest lapidary artists, jewelers, and gem dealers in the country. I’ve had the pleasure of covering it a number of times, as you can see in my AGTA archive.

I intended to come straight home from the 2023 AGTA Spectrum Awards preview and publish this blog post full of photos for you to enjoy! But instead I had a scary medical emergency and ended up in the Emergency Room. It was a weird one that required lots of follow up appointments and testing. My Ehlers Danlos Syndrome means that this kind of thing occasionally happens to me, and luckily everything worked out just fine.

There was one casualty, however: I missed my chance to show you the treasures I saw at the 2023 AGTA Spectrum Awards Editor’s preview!

I couldn’t bear for you to miss seeing these beauties, so even though quiiiiiiiite a bit of time has elapsed, I am going to share you the treasures of the 2023 AGTA Spectrum Awards with you here today.

This Robin Callahan Designs necklace was one of my absolutely favorites of the day (and not just because it goes so well with my manicure).

It features a staggering 64.45 ct Swiss blue topaz carved into a windmill scene by lapidary artist Dalan Hargrave, set within a 14K white gold frame set with sapphires, diamonds, and London blue topaz.

Just look at this tiny work of art. If you wear this, you’ll have a petite masterpiece around your neck, no doubt about it.

There are several things I enjoyed about this rainbow pastel dream of a necklace.

First, this color combo is spectacular – so light and dreamy and fun! And secondly, this was entered in the Men’s Jewelry section of the competition. I strongly believe that all jewelry is gender natural, but it delighted me that this designer eschewed convention to categorize this lovely candy-colored piece as Men’s.

Created by The Crown Collection, this pastel rainbow necklace features colorful sapphires and garnets alongside sparkling white, cognac, and champagne diamonds in gold.

The kind of tone-on-tone color scheme was one of the big trends I noticed at the 2023 AGTA Spectrum awards – you may remember it also appeared in the Robin Callahan Designs necklace we saw above with London blue topaz set next to deep blue sapphire.

I am a huge fan of this kind of color combination, I find it so fresh and lovely.

This Yael Designs piece is another example of how beautifully dark and light blues can work together. In this design, called Yael Designs’ Sentience Bangle, a 26.44 carat carved aquamarine has a 6.95 carat pear shaped tanzanite actually set within the stone! How cool is that?

The bold double center stone is complimented by the piece’s swirling mass of 18K white gold tendrils, accented with diamonds and moonstones.

The 2023 Spectrum Awards were a spectacular year for opals, especially in the form of jaw-dropping rings! I love how these opal rings are ostensibly similar (large oval opal surrounded by accent stones) but the specifics of each stone and design make them all feel so different. Lots more tone-on-tone magic here to enjoy, with all the greens and blues!

Top left: by Pompos and features a 6.63 carat black opal accented with diamonds and sapphires.

Bottom left: by Omi Privé, and the winner of AGTA Spectrum 23 Best in Show and 1st place! This black opal ring features a 15.22 carat black opal with Paraiba tourmaline, tsavorite garnet, & diamonds.

Top right: by Nicole Mera, and features a 2.15 carat Australian black opal with tsavorite garnets and diamonds. (This beauty took home an Honorable Mention!)

Bottom right: by Erica Courtney and features a 2.07 carat opal surrounded by sapphires, garnets, and diamonds.

Everyone loves a rainbow, especially when it’s a rainbow of gams – and this gemstone rainbow pendant from Suzy Landa is SO gorgeous. Look at the shapes, the colors! This thing felt like it was blasting everyone in a 10 foot radius with positive energy.

This Suzy Landa pendant features 25.92 total carats of gems, including tourmaline, garnet, topaz, beryl, zircon, tanzanite, and amethyst, as well as accent diamonds in 18K yellow gold.

After 12 years in the jewelry industry I can appreciate the amount of time, effort, and dedication that it must have taken for Suzy Landa find this full rainbow of complementary gems in the shapes, sizes, and cuts that she needed to accomplish this feat – it’s seriously impressive.

This butterfly brooch is both dramatic and elegant, not a combination that’s easy to accomplish! I love how light it feels, despite its size – I think that’s due to the delicate color of the long tourmaline body and all the lacy negative space of the 18K white gold wings.

Created by Brenda Smith Jewelry, this butterfly brooch features a 37.33 carat tourmaline, a 5.30 carat aquamarine, and nearly 10 carats of additional gemstones: beryl, tourmaline, aquamarine, iolite, diamonds, and zircon! It can also be worn as a pendant, so it’s a double whammy.

I think it looks great with my dress, too!

Another color combination I absolutely loved was this diamond ring by Elichai Fine Jewelry. This beauty features a 3.27 ct fancy yellow vivid diamond with tourmaline and diamonds, set in platinum, 18K, and 22K yellow gold.

Notice how the yellow diamond is set in yellow gold but the tourmalines are set in platinum? That design choice emphasizes the warmth of the diamond and the iciness of the tourmaline.

This charming fellow is The Painted Bunting Bird, and objet d’art by Ziad Noshie of Almaza Jewelers. Isn’t he wonderful??

This exquisite jeweled bird is made from sterling silver set with black diamonds (1.0 carats), cognac diamonds (15.15 carats), tsavorite garnets (6.50 carats), sapphires (43.53 carats), and tanzanites (18.25 carats) on a lapis lazuli base accented with carnelian.

And yes, I did pet his sparkling gemstone feathers. I couldn’t resist.

These two tourmaline cocktail rings are two spectacular examples of what this gemstone can do. Tourmaline and diamond rings by Lisa Nik (left) and Robin Callahan Designs with Dalan Hargrave (Lapidary Artist).

The ring on the left is by Lisa Nik and features a 23.79 carat watermelon tourmaline in yellow gold with diamonds.

The ring on the right is by Robin Callahan Designs and stars a 21.24 carat fantasy cut tricolor Congo tourmaline carved by Dalan Hargrave, accented with diamonds, tourmalines, and sapphires.

How about another figural brooch of incredible scale? The 2023 AGTA Spectrum Awards were a great year for animal-themed designs and this dolphin was one of the most charming.

This dolphin brooch is by Jimmy NG and features a 99.96 carat opal (!!) as well as diamonds, apatite, and moonstones.

Green gemstones have been trending for the past couple of years and this meant that there were some truly spectacular emeralds at the 2023 AGTA Spectrum Awards. These two rings – two different takes on the two-stone toi et moi style – were two of my favorites and both award winners!

The ring on the left is by Beatrix Laura Jessner of B & W Jewels. It took home second place in the Evening Wear category and features a 2.69 carat no enhancement Colombian emerald with diamonds (3.39 carats).

The ring on the right, entitled “Moi et Toi Perfection in Green & White” is by Jeffrey Bilgore, first place AGTA Spectrum 2023 winner in the Classical category. This stunner features a 3.49 ct. unenhanced Colombian emerald and a 3.36 ct. diamond accented with Diamonds (0.43 carats).

I thought you might want a little more emerald? Or perhaps a lot more! This one was enormous.

This incredible platinum pendant by Pompos features a 11.94 carat heart shaped emerald within an emerald and diamond halo.

I love the variety that I always see at the AGTA Spectrum Awards. You get red carpet worthy pieces, like the giant emerald pennant above, and then you get extraordinary beauties like this ring by Sugar Plum Fine Jewelry, which is stunning but still subtle enough for everyday wear.

I LOVE the color combination of gems on this piece. The center stone is a rhodolite garnet and it’s accented by amethyst, tourmaline, sapphire, and more garnets.

Hello, gorgeous!

This stunner is the Twilight Romance bracelet by Paula Crevoshay. It features 142.26 carats of pink, blue, and purple sapphires. Isn’t it dreamy? It really does feel like a romantic twilight evening, captured in pure color.

This necklace is an incredibly fascinating, thoughtfully conceived piece of jewelry. Entitled “GARANATAS: From Rough to Cut,” this weighty necklace by Mary van der Aa Fine Jewels is made from platinum pods, each set with a garnet from a different origin.

I’m only wearing the bottom half of the necklace here, but each of those hexagonal platinum pods includes magnets to attach the top half of the necklace, which turns the design into a completely different all-platinum necklace.

The COOLEST thing about this piece, though, is that the back of each platinum pod bears an engraving that identifies the mine and country of origin for every garnet it features.

Not only is this necklace beautiful, it’s basically a wearable lesson about garnet. I wasn’t shocked to learn that this treasure took three years for Mary van der Aa to finish it.

This baby took home a well deserved AGTA Spectrum 2023 Award for Best Use of Platinum and Color. You can learn more about this remarkable piece here, on the designer’s website.

If this stunning bracelet looks a little bit familiar, it might be because it coordinates with a Jeffrey Bilgore winning piece from the 2022 AGTA Spectrum Awards, the stunning yellow diamond ring I featured here.

I love this piece’s modern Art Deco feel, with its crisp geometry and bold moments of color contrast. This bracelet by Jeffrey Bilgore features fancy yellow diamonds, white diamonds, and tsavorite garnet with black ceramic details.

One of my favorite things about the Spectrum Awards is how I always see something I’ve never seen before.

These unusual and arresting earrings showcase fossilized wood with chrysocolla accented with purple sapphires and pearls. They’re by Mark Loren Designs, and I’m absolutely fascinated by the way that these elements take up space.

Look at this beautiful weirdo!! This black jade and 14K gold pendant won Editor’s Choice at the 2023 AGTA Spectrum Awards (a well-deserved honor). It’s a black jade and 14K yellow gold pendant with a 13.88 carat fantasy-cut pink tourmaline with opal inlay.

Isn’t it cool? Every element of it is so surprising, creative, and beautifully executed. I can’t get over the opal polka dots so seamlessly inlaid into the curved surface of the jade.

There were a lot of things to love at the 2023 AGTA Spectrum Awards, but this ring was my favorite of the entire event – the piece I most wanted to take home with me and wear in my actual life. The color combination is just exquisite, and also another perfect example of the tone-on-tone trend that we’ve seen several times in this post.

My ring crush here is by Omi Privé and features a 1.34 carat tourmaline alongside a 1.60 carat cobalt spinel, accented with tourmaline (0.22 carats), hauyne (0.13 carats), and diamonds (0.35 carats).

Here’s a slideshow of some more photos from the 2023 AGTA Spectrum Awards that I just didn’t have space to include above!

Thanks again to AGTA for inviting me to the 2023 AGTA Spectrum Awards Editor’s preview. I had the most wonderful time! And if you like what you saw here, you should check out my AGTA Archive to see treasures from other AGTA events I’ve attended.

AGTA generously took care of my travel expenses for this trip, but my opinions remain my own.