Competition Gems
The Gemstone Gallery features competition winning artists.
A competition gemstone can take over 100 hours to plan, cut, and perfect. Submitting a gemstone for judgement is the ultimate expression of an artist's investment in their craft. Their winning gems take perfection to the next level.
Competition gemstones are judged by the harshest of critics: our peers. Tolerances in size are gauged to a tenth of a millimetre. The bottoms of cabochons must be perfectly flat, the domed top consistently symmetrical with no flat spots, and the polish must be flawless. Facet must meet facet with exacting precision to radiate that winning sparkle.
Here you will see beauty, art and technical perfection blend to create something exceptional. Distinguished and celebrated, these masterpieces are truly unique.
Gem Artist: John Clyde
Material: 1.44ct Australian Topaz
Size: 7.4mm x 7.5mm
Design: Signature #4 Radiant Trillion by Jeff Graham
Competition: 2013 Victorian Facetor’s Group Annual Competition
Award: 1st Place - Section Novice
Gem Artist: John Clyde
Material: 6.10ct Citrine Quartz - natural
Size: 14.2mm (h) x 13.9mm (w) x 9.4mm (d)
Design: Freeform designed by John Clyde to the competition brief
Competition: 2018 Victorian Facetor’s Group Annual Competition
Award: 1st Place - Rick Parker Perpetual Trophy for the Robert W. Strickland Freeform Design
The brief for this competition stated that the artist’s original design of the gem must display:
1.) free form shape
2.) brilliant faces - pointed triangles meeting at the culet
3.) barion faces - large faces just beneath the girdle, which deepen the colour of the gem
4.) bar faces – a series of rectangular faces stacked and perfectly aligned
Gem Artist: John Clyde
Material: 1.22ct Pale Blue Australian Topaz
Size: 8.4mm x 6.3mm
Design: Marquis del Grillo by Marco Voltolini
Competition: 2019 Victorian Facetor’s Group Annual Competition
Award: 1st Place - Open Section
Gem Artist: John Clyde
Material: 2.93ct Natural Citrine Quartz
Size: 9.3mm x 7.0mm
Design: Rectangle Step Cut with cut corners
Competition: 2015 Gemboree at Horsham, Victoria
Award: 1st Place - Intermediate Section
Gem Artist: John Clyde
Material: 1.68ct Rhodolite Garnet
Size: 9mm x 6mm
Design: Lippy by Marco Voltolini
Competition: 2017 Victorian Facetor’s Group Annual Competition
Award: 1st place - Open Section
Gem Artist: John Clyde
Material: Smokey Quartz
Size:
Design: Freeform designed by John Clyde to the competition brief
Competition: 2019 Victorian Facetor’s Group Annual Competition
Award: 2nd Place -
The brief for this inaugural competition stated that the artist’s original design of the gem must display:
1.) free form shape
2.) brilliant faces - pointed triangles meeting at the culet
3.) barion faces - large faces just beneath the girdle, which deepen the colour of the gem
4.) bar faces – a series of rectangular faces stacked and perfectly aligned
Gem Artist: John Clyde
Material: 4.34ct Prasiolite Quartz - Natural
Size: 11.7mm x 9.1mm
Design: Freeform designed by John Clyde to the competition brief
Competition: 2016 Victorian Facetor’s Group Annual Competition
Award: 1st place - inaugural winner of the Rick Parker Perpetual Trophy for the Robert W. Strickland Freeform Design
The brief for this inaugural competition stated that the artist’s original design of the gem must display:
1.) free form shape
2.) brilliant faces - pointed triangles meeting at the culet
3.) barion faces - large faces just beneath the girdle, which deepen the colour of the gem
4.) bar faces – a series of rectangular faces stacked and perfectly aligned
Gem Artist: Laura Colgan
Material: Cubic Zirconia - Peach colour
Size: 11.7mm