19^th May 2023, Mumbai: Winners of the prestigious Artisan Jewellery Design Awards 2023 were announced in a dazzling function at the St. Regis Hotel, Mumbai, organised by the Gems & Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC). Nine winners were announced out of twenty-eight finalists, who had been selected from a total of 575 entries from designers in different parts of the world.

Among the twenty-eight finalists who waited with bated breaths at the event attended by the who’s who in the gem & jewellery industry, were two alumni and three students of IIGJ Mumbai. The audience erupted in cheers when the name of Tuhin Ghosh was announced as the first runner up in the category “The Art of Abstraction”.

“We are incredibly proud of Tuhin’s remarkable achievement in The Artisan Awards. His exceptional talent, dedication and hard work have been recognized on an international stage,” said Mr. Bharat Vaswani, Head of the Institute, IIGJ Mumbai, speaking on the occasion. “This achievement reflects the high-quality education and training we provide to our students at IIGJ. It is a testament to their creativity, craftsmanship, and the guidance of our experienced faculty members. Tuhin’s success not only brings honour to IIGJ but also serves as an inspiration to future jewellery designers and underscores the Institute’s commitment to nurturing and developing the next generation of creative talent in the global jewellery design industry.”

In Tuhin’s own words: “I am Tuhin Ghosh, final year student of BA in Gems and Jewellery at IIGJ Mumbai. I am the second-generation to pursue jewellery designing and merchandising in my family. IIGJ Mumbai has aided me in my passion, fuelled my ambition and plays a vital role for me by helping me face (design) challenges and find solutions. Competing in GJEPC’s ‘Artisan Awards for Jewellery Design’ has been a turning point for me. I had not really expected to be in the finals, let alone be selected as the First Runner Up!

My inspiration is taken from Russian artist Wassily Kandinsky’s famous artwork “Circles in a Circle”, 1923, that I shaped into a pair of earrings. Kandinsky was known for his visual symphony (synesthesia) where he used to experience the union of various colours based on different sounds that he heard. My piece is a representation of the ever-changing harmony of colours and human emotions which, I would like to believe, is perfectly tuned to correlate with the feelings Kandinsky might have had while listening to music.

M/s. Laxmi Dia Pvt. Ltd. were kind enough to sponsor me, giving me the platform and encouragement that I needed to bring my idea to life. I believe this is just the beginning of my story. Through my designs I aspire to ignite a spark within everyone and wish to be a guiding light for the new generation yet to come.”

IIGJ is proud and overjoyed not only for Tuhin’s achievement but also that of the other finalists – Adityan Tamilarasan (Student – B.A. in Gems & Jewellery), Divakar Badrinarayan (Alumnus – Post Graduate Diploma in Jewellery Management), Priya Das (Alumna – P G Diploma in Jewellery Management) and Sushil Bhalerao (Alumnus – Jewellery Design).