The shortlisted applicants of the JNA Awards are referred to as Honourees. The chosen leading company or individual of a category among the “Honourees” is referred to as Recipient.
About Nicky Oppenheimer: Nicky Oppenheimer, former Chairman of the De Beers Group, is awarded JNA’s highest accolade for his outstanding contribution to the world diamond industry over the course of a career that spans 44 years. The third generation of the Oppenheimers to lead De Beers, Nicky Oppenheimer has added his own, distinguished contribution to a family legend that dates back to 1902. Under his leadership, De Beers opened up new markets for diamond jewellery in China and India, and established the De Beers’ Best Practice Principles (BPPs), a standard of ethical business behaviour that has set the benchmark for other global industries.
About Chow Tai Fook Jewellery Co Ltd: Founded in 1929, the iconic brand “Chow Tai Fook” of the Group has been widely recognised for its trustworthiness and authenticity, and renowned for product design, quality and value. The legacy of the Group and its iconic brand is rooted in innovation, craftsmanship and heritage. Chow Tai Fook has spread its presence in more than 500 cities across Greater China, Singapore, Malaysia, Korea, Japan and the US. Decades have passed and generations have come and gone; still, Chow Tai Fook, with its current roster of 30,000 employees, continues to stand the test of time.
About Dharmanandan Diamonds Pvt Ltd: Founded in 1985, Dharmanandan Diamonds Pvt Ltd is a leading diamond manufacturer with a set of core corporate values based on excellence in innovation, manufacturing and talent management. The Diamond Trading Company (DTC) Sightholder has also integrated corporate social responsibility programmes into its core business. The company offers a wide range of loose diamonds and diamond-studded jewellery.
About Kashi Jewellers: Founded as a retail store in 1955, Kashi Jewellers is now a fully integrated high-end jewellery conglomerate headquartered in the Northern Indian city of Kanpur. The company sells an extensive range of gold, diamond, coloured gemstone and kundan jewellery and boasts the largest jewellery showroom in the Indian states of Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakland.
About Nelson Jewellery Arts Co Ltd: Nelson Jewellery Arts Co Ltd is a Hong Kong-based high-end platinum and gold jewellery manufacturer established in 1980. The company has workshops in Panyu and Huizhou City in China and a diamond polishing facility in Thailand. Its distribution network includes sales offices in the US, Australia, the UK, Italy, Malaysia, Taiwan and China.
About TTF High Jewellery: Established in 2002, ttf HAUTE JOAILLERIE has become one of the leading brands promoting Chinese design and craftsmanship to the world. It became the first Chinese jewellery company and only the third Asian jewellery manufacturer to exhibit at Basel World 2012. Apart from its design expertise, the company also came up with several innovative production techniques including 925 anti-oxidation, microscope floating setting, gold purification and a method that solves cracking and colour-changing in rose gold jewellery manufacturing.
About Dharmanandan Diamonds Pvt Ltd: Founded in 1985, Dharmanandan Diamonds Pvt Ltd is a leading diamond manufacturer with a set of core corporate values based on excellence in innovation, manufacturing and talent management. Dharmanandan’s customer-centric approach to business has been critical to its success. Every aspect of the company’s business strategy – from human resource management and international expansion to R&D programmes – is geared towards enhancing the client service experience. The company’s human resource base, from its highly qualified team of engineers and IT developers to top-rate management professionals, is its most important asset. Dharmanandan has also integrated corporate social responsibility programmes into its core business. A DTC Sightholder since 2008, the company offers a wide range of loose diamonds and diamond-studded jewellery.
About K.S. Jewelry International Co Ltd: K.S. Jewelry International Co Ltd, which maintains offices in Thailand and Germany, has always been driven by the passion to innovate and believes jewellery making is both art and science. The company utilises advanced CNC technologies to deliver top-quality jewellery items, including the brand’s avant-garde “breathable jewellery” line.
About Kiran Exports Hong Kong Ltd: Kiran Exports Hong Kong Ltd is the distribution and marketing office that serves the Far East markets of Kiran Gems Pvt Ltd. Operating 132 specialised production units in Surat and Ahmedabad, Kiran processed over 5.7 million carats of rough diamonds in 2011. The company employs more than 31,000 people, making the group the largest job creator in India’s diamond industry.
About Plukka (HK) Ltd: Leveraging the power of social media and online marketing, Plukka (HK) Ltd is slowly changing the dynamics of jewellery trade and manufacturing. Through its website, Plukka.com, the company offers original jewellery to customers, giving them the added benefit of made-to-order in-season designs at reduced prices. It sells jewellery items at significantly lower prices on the condition that a minimum number of customers would make the same purchase. Since the company is web-based, buyers get to access Plukka’s offerings 24/7. The result is a business model without brick-and mortar stores or inventory, which is challenging conventional retail.
About KGK Jewellery Manufacturing Ltd: KGK Group, a multinational corporation founded in 1905 involving in the mining, sourcing, manufacturing and distribution of coloured gemstones, diamonds and jewellery, has mastered the art of balancing its business. One of the main reasons behind KGK’s success is its implementation of guidelines that promote good business ethics and best practices. The group makes it a point to work with responsible parties, making it the preferred buyer of three of the world’s leading diamond miners – De Beers, Alrosa and Rio Tinto. KGK is Best Practice Principles-compliant and Responsible Jewellery Council-certified. The company also places importance on data privacy with most of the computer data for inventory and logistics maintained through software that was developed in-house by its IT teams in China and India. All information exchanges are monitored carefully at regular intervals.
About Pranda Group: A global group of companies with a manufacturing capacity of more than 9 million jewellery pieces annually, Pranda Group prides itself on being a leading supplier of high-quality jewellery to some of the world’s most recognisable retail brands, while offering its own branded jewellery products. With a 4,000-strong workforce in seven manufacturing facilities – four in Thailand and one each in Indonesia, Vietnam and Germany – the company is a force to reckon with, producing more than 10,000 new designs and over 8 million pieces annually. Founded in 1973 as an export trading company, Pranda Group has grown to offer a diverse portfolio of 12 brands catering to specific market segments. The group’s wide-ranging products include gemstones and diamond jewellery in 9- to 24-karat gold, silver jewellery, costume jewellery and other items in various alternative materials.
About Luk Fook Holdings (International) Ltd: Founded in 1991, Hong Kong-listed Luk Fook Holdings (International) Ltd has a retail network spanning Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, Singapore, the US and Canada. The company engages in the sourcing, designing, wholesaling and retailing of gold and platinum jewellery, gem-set and natural jadeite jewellery, gold ornaments, gemstones and other accessory items. The group also provides a variety of services to its customers. Lukfook Jewellery’s retail outlets are equipped with gem-examination microscopes that allow buyers to inspect the goods prior to purchase. Its after-sales services include jewellery maintenance and laser-engraving. The retailer also offers complimentary gift cards, certificates of authentication for jadeite and diamond products, as well as a comprehensive checklist and product photo on sales invoices.
About Jewelmer International Corporation: Established in 1979, Philippines-based Jewelmer International Corporation virtually created the golden South Sea pearl category and has become of one of the top three pearl producers in the world in value terms. They take pride as an environmentally-sustainable company by growing their pearls via ecologically friendly practices in its farms in Palawan. It has also grown its staff from only 150 in the 1980s to over 1,000 skilled individuals, some of whom are second-generation employees. Jewelmer over the years expanded into a fully integrated enterprise that embraces the entire supply chain, from pearl production and jewellery design and production to a dynamic wholesale and retail operation that positions Jewelmer Joaillerie as a luxury brand.
About Payal Shah: With parents who were diamond merchants, Payal Shah developed a deep love of gemstones and jewellery at a young age. Her passion for the industry culminated in 2011 when she founded L’Dezen Jewellery Co Ltd with the vision of becoming a global supplier of fashionable handmade diamond jewellery in 18-karat gold. As chief designer, she ensures her creations exhibit a high level of craftsmanship and use only top-quality materials.
About Itzik Polnauer: Itzik Polnauer is maximising fancy coloured diamond specialist Leibish & Co’s online presence to reach new customers, educate the market about fancy coloured goods, and further drive the company’s brand forward. Polnauer is responsible for some of the most exciting online sales and marketing programmes that the Ramat Gan-based diamantaire has launched in recent years.
About Chris Benham: In just three years, Chris Benham, CEO and co-founder of The Inspired Collection with Ian and Christine Douglas, has led the company to win several domestic and international jewellery design awards. The jewellery manufacturer also won major design contracts with highly respected companies, including Hiersun, a retailer with more than 200 bridal jewellery shops in China. The company specialises in unique diamond jewellery designs and consistently challenges how a diamond is set into a ring. Inspired jewellery breaks new ground in creating wearable art for its clients, based on using traditional precious metals and gemstones in innovative and practical ways.
About Makhni Enterprises: Founded over three decades ago, Makhni Enterprises works with heated and unheated fine-quality rubies and sapphires from 1 carat to more than 20 carats. The entry from Makhni Enterprises is a pair of rare unheated rubies weighing 4.11 carats and 4.05 carats respectively. The brilliant-cut rubies are oval-shaped, measuring 10.98mm by 7.96mm by 4.75mm and 11.02mm by 7.97mm by 4.83mm respectively.
About Vitalit Co Ltd: Vitalit Co Ltd offers fine-quality coloured gemstones. Its entries were a 13.97-carat cushion-shaped Vivid Orange Natural Mandarin Garnet measuring 12.38mm by 11.07mm by 9.96mm and a 40.25-carat Pinkish Red Spinel of Pamir Mountains origins that measures 21.51mm by 18.82mm by 11.76mm.