Jewelers of America Announces 2016 GEM Awards Winners
Joe Thompson Receives Lifetime Achievement and Cartier, Rob Bates and Temple St. Clair Win
Joe Thompson Receives Lifetime Achievement and Cartier, Rob Bates and Temple St. Clair Win
NEW YORK, Jan. 13, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Jewelers of America (JA), the national trade association for businesses serving the fine jewelry marketplace, held their 14th annual GEM Awards on Friday, January 8, 2016, at Cipriani 42nd Street in New York. GEM Awards is the fine jewelry industry's premier accolade gala, which recognizes the achievements of individuals and companies whose work raises the visibility and status of fine jewelry and watches. The winners in the categories of Jewelry Design, Media Excellence and Watch Design were revealed live. Joe Thompson, Editor-in-Chief of WatchTime magazine, was the recipient of the 2016 GEM Award for Lifetime Achievement.
The GEM Award for Media Excellence was given to Rob Bates, News Director of JCK. The other Media Excellence nominees were Kyle Anderson and Rachel Garrahan. Claudia Mata presented the award.
Cartier received the GEM Award for Watch Design. Mercedes Abramo, President & CEO of Cartier North America, accepted the award for the Maison. The other nominees for Watch Design were Piaget and Roger Dubuis. The award was presented by Olivier Stip.
Temple St. Clair received the GEM Award for Jewelry Design. The other nominees in the Jewelry Design category were Caroline Scheufele of Chopard and Sevan Bicakci. The award was presented by Stephen Webster.
The evening concluded with a touching tribute to Joe Thompson as he received the GEM Award for Lifetime Achievement. Thompson, accepted the award with a touching speech that included, "People in my line of work normally do not get and do not expect to get a wonderful honor like this. This is for the people we cover, not for the scribblers who cover them." In his tribute video, Thompson added, "There are more people interested in watches today than there ever has been in my entire career. So yes, I hope to still write about this subject until I can't write anymore." The award was presented by Efraim Grinberg, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Movado Group, Inc.
GEM Awards – including red carpet coverage, the awards program and a sampling of "GEM Awards Moments" from past GEM Awards – was broadcast live on www.gemawardslive.com. The program is available for reviewing for the next year.
Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160113/321771
SOURCE Jewelers of America
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