JNA Awards 2014 Honourees Announced

JNA Awards 2014 Honourees Announced

SYDNEY, May 26, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Vivid Sydney (23 May - 9 June) was officially opened tonight by the NSW Premier Mike Baird, as the Sails of iconic Sydney Opera House came alive with world-exclusive, stunning 3D-mapped projections, and the Harbour City was filled with colour and light.

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Paspaley Pearling Company, Shanghai Diamond Exchange, Gubelin Group, UBM Asia, UBM Asia, Chow Tai Fook Jewellery Group, Diarough Group, KARP Group, Israel Diamond Institute

Nirupa Bhatt, Bill Boyajian, Albert Cheng, James Courage, Lin Qiang

HONG KONG, June 19, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- JNA (Jewellery News Asia), the organiser of the prestigious JNA Awards, has announced the much-anticipated list of Honourees across 14 categories for its third edition. A total of 29 companies from 10 countries/regions have been shortlisted. The event is supported by Headline Partners Rio Tinto Diamonds and Chow Tai Fook, together with Honoured Partners Diarough Group, Gubelin Group, Israel Diamond Institute, KARP Group, Paspaley Pearling Company and Shanghai Diamond Exchange.

The judging panel consists of five industry experts, namely Nirupa Bhatt, Managing Director of GIA in India and the Middle East; Bill Boyajian, Founder and President of Bill Boyajian & Associates Inc. and former President of the Gemological Institute of America (GIA); Albert Cheng, Managing Director of the World Gold Council - Far East (WGC); James Courage, Chief Executive Officer of Platinum Guild International (PGI); and Lin Qiang, President and Managing Director of the Shanghai Diamond Exchange (SDE).

Now in its third year, the awards event has grown in size and stature with 91 highly qualified entries from 20 countries and regions. Countries represented for the first time included Belgium, Indonesia, Italy, Malaysia, the Netherlands and Vietnam. Nominations were also fielded from Australia, mainland China, Hong Kong, India, Israel, Japan, the Philippines, Russia, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand, United Kingdom, U.S. and the United Arab Emirates.

A new category, Outstanding Enterprise of the Year - ASEAN Countries, has been introduced this year to reflect the growing importance of this region in the jewellery and gemstone industry.

The Recipients of the Lifetime Achievement Award and the Outstanding Contribution of the Year Award will be nominated by the organiser, and the announcement will be made at a later date.

This year's JNA Awards ceremony and gala dinner will be held on Tuesday, 16 September, at the InterContinental Hong Kong, during the September Hong Kong Jewellery & Gem Fair. It is an industry-wide event that honours and recognises excellence and achievement in the global jewellery trade with a focus on contributions and achievements made in the Asian region. It is a ticketed event by application only. Interested parties can submit their request by logging on to www.JNAawards.com

Please click here for the list of Honourees and full announcement.

SOURCE: JNA

Vivid Sydney, the largest light, music and ideas festival in the Southern Hemisphere, and Australia's Event of the Year, features a huge, free nightly light show of lighting installations, building projections and water theatre around Sydney harbour from 6pm until midnight, as well as live music performances and over 200 creative industry events.
Developed six years ago by Destination NSW, the NSW Government's tourism and major events agency, Vivid Sydney attracted more than 800,000 visitors in 2013.
New to Vivid Sydney this year, Harbour Lights will see Sydney's iconic ferries and vessels lit up, with their lights computer-controlled by satellite navigation as they glide across the world's most beautiful harbour. Also new to Vivid Sydney, the city's central business area, Martin Place, will put on a light show of its own, with large light installations, 3D building projections and lasers.
Sydney's famous Harbour Bridge will become the world's largest interactive light display, as visitors are invited to choose the colours they would like to 'paint' the Bridge using an interactive touch screen, through a collaboration with Intel and Sydney's lighting experts, 32 Hundred Lighting.
A key highlight of Vivid Sydney is always Lighting the Sails of the Sydney Opera House which this year have been designed by award-winning creative agency 59 Productions, renowned for their work on the London Olympic Games' Opening Ceremony and the West-end show War Horse.
In addition to Vivid Light:
Vivid Music brings audiences live music across venues including Sydney Opera House. Performances during Vivid Music include Pixies, Pet Shop Boys, Ms Lauryn Hill, St Vincent and Midlake.
Vivid Ideas is recognised as one of the world's top ten ideas festivals in the world by the UK's Guardian newspaper, and brings leading international creatives and thought leaders to Sydney in over 200 creative industry business events. Highlights include Australian-exclusive talks and events featuring Candy Chang, Ryan Holiday, Sara Critchfield, Skylar Tibbits and director Joshy D of REBEL8.
Stills, video and time-lapse are available and will be regularly updated at: http://www.vividsydney.com/media-centre/
The Vivid Sydney program is available at http://vividsydney.com/

SOURCE: Hannah Le CoicSenior Publicist, Destination NSW