JCK spotlights risk-taking winners in the Jewelers’ Choice Awards

A hand-built gold necklace set with 32.14 carats of lemon-yellow chrysoberyls took JCK’s grand prize, and that choice says as much about the market as it does about the jewel. Vanessa Fernández’s Curva necklace, made by the Miami designer at her bench, won as the annual Jewelers’ Choice Awards singled out pieces that felt authored rather than engineered, with the strongest work leaning into color, curve, and scale instead of safe prettiness.

JCK announced the 2026 winners on May 4, after its Best of the Best digital flip-book went live on May 1. The awards were judged by retailers, with additional honors selected by JCK editors and a slate of jewelry influencers that included Severine Ferrari, Bebe Bakhshi, Agata Jankowiak, and Grant Mobley, alongside JCK editors Amy Elliott, Karen Dybis, Brittany Siminitz, Melissa Rose Bernardo, and Victoria Gomelsky. Gomelsky said the brands that consistently win the JCAs are the ones that are not afraid to take risks, and the structure of the awards backed that up: the competition period ran from September 2, 2025, to November 2, 2025, and the next entry period opens after Labor Day.

The rest of the winners followed the same logic of bold authorship. Pompos took Best Colored Stone Jewelry over $30,000 with an Australian black opal ring priced at $150,000, a category where drama is part of the appeal but rarely arrives with such a deep, living flash. Rahaminov won Best Statement Piece over $50,000 with the Alexandra necklace, priced at $725,000, a high-jewelry showpiece that underlined how much scale still matters when the design has conviction.

JCK’s editors’ picks sharpened the argument. Karen Dybis singled out Nelson Jewellery’s praying mantis brooch for its craftsmanship and playfulness. Melissa Rose Bernardo praised Trésor’s multicolor sapphire earrings for their groovy color combinations and fluid gold settings. Gomelsky chose Khepri Jewels’ fancy-color-diamond necklace as a polished counterpoint to look-alike lab-grown stones, while Amy Elliott selected Fernández’s Las Olas ring for its quiet sensuality and warm, desert-inspired fancy-colored diamonds. Fernández, previously profiled as a traditional goldsmith trained in hand fabrication, has built a reputation for custom work defined by sculptural metalwork and bold gemstones. In that context, the awards read as a clear signal for personalized jewelry: the most compelling pieces are not merely customized, but unmistakably made by human hands with a distinct point of view.