Birthstone gems shine in INSTORE design awards gold category

A 15.33-carat rutilated topaz ring priced at $3,170 led INSTORE’s Gold Under $5,000 category, and its appeal was built less on polish than on personality. Judges praised the stone’s natural inclusions for creating a painterly, one-of-a-kind look, the kind of internal patterning that turns a birthstone-adjacent jewel into something a client can recognize at a glance.

The May 14 category sat inside the 11th INSTORE Design Awards, which drew 229 entries, matching the prior year and underscoring how steady demand remains for standout jewelry under $5,000. Colored gemstones were especially strong this year, and that showed in the final results: AMÁL JEWELRY took second place with a carved 12.55-carat boulder opal phoenix necklace at $4,950, while SHY CREATION earned third with a Solana Matte bangle in 14K yellow gold for $3,600.

The real commercial story is in the stones themselves. Opal and tourmaline are October’s birthstones, but opal carries an extra layer of visual drama because its play-of-color comes from microscopic silica spheres that diffract light. The American Gem Society classifies opal as delicate, with a Mohs hardness of 5.5 to 6, which makes settings and wearability central to its value. That is why the carved phoenix necklace and the tassel earrings that won Retailer’s Choice mattered: both relied on gold construction that frames, rather than overwhelms, the gem.

AMÁLI JEWELRY also won Retailer’s Choice with 18K yellow gold tassel earrings featuring Australian boulder opal, 3.60 carats total weight, and fringe, priced at $3,600. Australia has produced the vast majority of the world’s opal supply, and boulder opal in particular has long signaled provenance as much as beauty. In that context, the Australian material, the visible matrix, and the use of yellow gold all work together to protect a softer gem while keeping the stone’s natural character front and center.

The judging process also lends these wins weight. Six retailers and three media personalities voted blindly, and hundreds of additional retailers nationwide chose the Retailer’s Choice winner in each category. That broader retailer vote matters because it points to what the trade sees as commercially durable, not merely decorative. The modern birthstone list was standardized in 1912 by the National Association of Jewelers, later known as Jewelers of America, and pieces like these show why it still resonates: when design, rarity, and wearable price converge, birthstone jewelry stops feeling seasonal and starts looking collectable.