by Brecken Branstrator
brecken.branstrator@nationaljeweler.com
As the self-proclaimed No. 1 fan of Spinel, Senior Editor, Brecken Branstrator, chose this ring from Dallas Prince Designs as one of her favorite pieces from the recent AGTA Spectrum competition entries.
Being a part of the AGTA Spectrum competition is the stuff a gem hound’s dreams are made of. This year, my participation started with having the privilege of judging, along with four other amazing women, the entries for WJA’s Gem Diva awards. We had to narrow down the 150-plus entries to four winners.
After judging the Gem Diva Awards on Sunday, I was itching to spend more time with all the entries and to take pictures. Luckily, just two days later, I returned to the beautiful, sunlit loft space in New York where AGTA holds the Editors’ Day event every year to spend hours playing with the hundreds of pieces that were submitted.
The quality of the entries seemed better than ever, and there were a few things, stone-wise, that stood out to me: I was so happy to see a few Trapiche Sapphires in the competition this year, as well as some jade and a stronger showing from spinel.
The fashion-forward piece....
Look, I’m not going to lie. The thing that first had me speed-walking to this piece was the cluster of Spinels. But there was so much more to it, as I found out, as soon as I put it on. This two-finger 14k WG “Pink Peony” ring by Dallas Prince Designs was comfortable!
I could easily move my hand around and it was well made. I fell for it hard and fast, and was ready to push for this ring to be a winner during the Gem Diva judging. Happily, I didn’t need to because we were all pretty much on the same level with this ring.