Good morning, my darlings!!! I am beyond excited to tell you that I recently attended the 2022 AGTA Spectrum Awards Editor’s Day, aka colored gemstone heaven. And yes, I took pictures for you!

Colored gems galore at the 2022 AGTA Spectrum Awards.

AGTA stands for the American Gemstone Trade Association, which represents the colored stone and cultured pearl industries in the US and Canada. AGTA and its members lead the industry in educational resources, ethical practices, and the finest colored gemstones and cultured pearls.

AGTA stands for the American Gemstone Trade Association, which represents the colored stone and cultured pearl industries in the US and Canada. The Spectrum Awards is AGTA’s legendary annual jewelry design contest, which was created to recognize and promote both jewelers who use colored gemstones and cultured pearls in exceptional fine jewelry designs and also lapidary artists who create extraordinary faceted gems and pearls, carvings, and objects of art.

I first attended the Spectrum Awards Editor’s Day in 2015 and I had the honor of hosting the Spectrum Awards Gala Red Carpet during AGTA Gem Fair Tucson in 2017.

The Arkenstone is a magical playground for gem nerds. Any time I looked up from the tables full of finished jewelry, I was greeted by shelves filled with otherworldly mineral specimens, raw gemstones, and fossils. The juxtaposition between how these minerals emerge from the earth and what they’re capable of when worked by human hands made the entire experience even more poignant.

Shout out to the lovely Mr. DitL, my amazing husband (above), who came along to help out!

Enough talk. Let’s get to the jewelry!

Kicking things off with one of the most memorable pieces from the 2022 AGTA Spectrum Awards…this is The Underworld Ring by Third Eye Assembly. Made from 18K yellow gold, platinum, 22k rose and green gold, 24K yellow gold and 18K white gold, The Underworld Ring features a 1.62 ct. black Opal, tsavorite Garnets, sapphires, and diamonds and is exquisitely detailed with mythological and astrological scenes.

According to Third Eye Assembly’s Instagram, this remarkable piece is meant to be an “astrological self portrait” of the artist (a Scorpio). In the designer’s own words:

“Depictions of Hades and Hecate, the male and female greek gods of the underworld, flank the east and west sides of the ring. Earth and Mars are depicted on the North and South sides of the ring along with diamonds and sapphires that align with the Scorpio star constellation.”

I didn’t see quite as much pink as I would have expected, given the color’s current popularity, but the pink I did see was extremely noteworthy. Look at the almost-neon Barbie shade of the pink sapphires in these earrings!!

These lovely floral earrings are by Caroline Chartouni of Caroline C Jewelry and feature two luscious pink sapphires totaling 10.94 carats, surrounded by 14.75 carats of diamonds and a further 9.45 cts of pink sapphire. Can you imagine these on a bride, or with a red carpet gown? Yes please.

What I did see a lot of was gorgeous sapphire engagement rings. A couple of pinks, one truly jaw-dropping purple, and then a sea of enchanting vibrant blue. These three sapphire engagement rings are by J.R. Dunn Jewelers, Skatell’s Manufacturing Jewelers, and Nicole Mera.

The sapphire center stones themselves were breathtaking, but I also loved the creativity evident in the design details of the settings. Look at these two, by Pompos Jewelry (left) and Robert Pelliccia of J.R. Dunn Jewelers (right).

The Pompos Jewelry ring features a 6.29 ct Ceylon sapphire and the J.R. Dunn ring features an 11.32 ct cushion cut sapphire. These are serious stones.

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