GIA Honors Catherine Aulick with Buccellati Award, Confirms Final Year

The Gemological Institute of America and the Gianmaria Buccellati Foundation presented the ninth and final Gianmaria Buccellati Foundation Award for Excellence in Jewelry Design to Catherine “Cathy” Aulick for a hand-rendered necklace in gold set with Ethiopian opal and peridot. The prize was announced at GIA Alumni Collective’s “Night at the Museum” on February 6, 2026 at the University of Arizona Alfie Norville Gem & Mineral Museum in Tucson, on the closing day of the American Gem Trade Association 2026 GemFair.

Aulick, identified as a GIA Carlsbad graduate of the Jewelry Design Course, described her process and the piece’s language of craft. “I want to thank the Buccellati Foundation and GIA for the honor of this award. Hand rendering has given me a new and beautiful language for communicating my designs,” she said, and will be traveling to Italy to meet with a representative from the Gianmaria Buccellati Foundation as part of the award recognition.

This year’s competition drew 12 finalists representing GIA Schools of Gemology and Jewelry Arts in Carlsbad, London, Mumbai, New York and Taiwan, underscoring the program’s global reach. The Buccellati award was established in 2018 to recognize exceptional jewelry design talent among GIA students; the 2026 presentation marks the ninth iteration of the prize, completing a run from 2018 through 2026.

GIA framed the announcement as a transition rather than an end point. Cathryn Ramirez, GIA Chief Learning Officer, said, “It’s been a pleasure collaborating with the Gianmaria Buccellati Foundation and presenting this award each year – recognizing all the wonderful talent in design among GIA students globally.” Ramirez also confirmed GIA’s next steps, adding, “GIA is currently planning its new design competition and details will be shared in the near future.”

The winning entry’s hand-rendered sketch and choice of Ethiopian opal and peridot place the necklace in a contemporary conversation about materiality and gesture, emphasizing artisan draughtsmanship over purely digital development. Presented at the Alfie Norville Museum during AGTA’s GemFair, the award ceremony highlighted design education amid a trade-show moment when buyers and makers congregate in Tucson.

With Aulick bound for Italy and GIA preparing to launch a new design competition, the dismissal of the Buccellati award as a finished chapter invites questions about how institutions and foundations will continue to support emerging designers. For now, the 2026 prize honors a distinct thread of craft learning at GIA Carlsbad and a generation of finalists from five international campuses, while GIA readies a successor competition whose format and timeline it says will be announced soon.