Kennedy’s Jewelers wins Best in Show with multicolor tourmaline necklace
A 201.64-carat tourmaline necklace in pink, green and bi-color stones took Best in Show, offering a blueprint for bold custom color.
When a client wants a necklace that feels personal rather than trend-chasing, the winning formula is often color first, then scale, then story. Kennedy’s Jewelers of Blue Springs, Missouri, took Best in Show in the retail category at Jewelers of America’s 36th annual CASE Awards with a custom necklace built around 201.64 carats of pink, green and bi-color cabochon tourmalines, set in 14-karat yellow gold and finished with 6.63 carats of diamonds.
The piece, designed by Trisha Kennedy-Thompson, was priced at $56,150, a figure that reflects both the sheer weight of the tourmalines and the labor needed to balance so many large cabochons without losing harmony. For anyone commissioning a one-of-a-kind jewel, that is the first lesson in the necklace: choose a dominant color family, then let the stones vary within it. Pink, green and bi-color tourmalines give the piece movement without turning it chaotic, and the cabochon cuts soften the look so the necklace reads as sculptural rather than flashy.
The second lesson is proportion. More than 200 carats of center-stone weight makes this a statement necklace, not an accent piece, and the yellow gold setting keeps the palette grounded. That warm metal choice matters. Yellow gold deepens the saturation of pink and green stones, while diamonds act as bright punctuation instead of competing for attention. For a client brief, that could translate into an heirloom redesign that uses one bold center stone, a pair of supporting colors, and a diamond border or spacer detail to tie the composition together.
The CASE Awards, sponsored by Synchrony, are organized around Creativity, Artistry, Style and Excellence, and this year more than 120 entries were submitted across eight categories spanning price points from jewelry up to $5,000 through $20,001 to $75,000, along with retail and supplier membership divisions. A panel of design experts judged the work on overall design, marketability, originality and quality of manufacturing. Amanda Gizzi, senior vice president of corporate affairs at Jewelers of America, said the awards continue to showcase the talent and creativity within the JA community, and the winning necklace makes that point plain: originality does not require restraint, only discipline.
Renisis won Best in Show in the supplier category with Sardwell’s double-bullet diamond ring, priced at $68,000, but Kennedy-Thompson’s tourmaline necklace stands out as the clearer personalization roadmap. It shows how a custom commission can turn a birthstone story, a favorite color, or a family palette into a jewel with real presence, the kind of piece that looks designed for one person because it was.
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