Rahele wins Shining Light Awards first Prize
The awards are part of De Beers Group mentorship programme
Young jewellery designer, Yaone Rahele aims to become an international jewellery designer after graduating from De Beers Group global mentorship programme.
The 27 year old Rahele scooped the first prize from De Beers Group Designers Initiative (DBGDI) competition for 2020/2021 Shining Light Awards. He told the Business Trends that he has always had passion to be a jewellery designer and by winning from this competition he now has the opportunity to learn from the best international designers and upgrade his skills. “I am so happy for this award. I will gain the best skills from the best international designers and I will contribute to diamond beneficiation in Botswana.”
He graduated from Oodi College of Applied Arts and Technology (OCAAT) in 2019 and is currently working as a jewellery designer at Fine Jewellery in Botswana.
De Beers Shining light awards was launched in 1995 to create opportunities for young aspiring jewellery designers to develop their skills, gain valuable exposure, hone their talent, and create a positive impact in the diamond industry. The initiative has grown to include submissions from new graduates of jewellery design programmes in Botswana, Canada, Namibia and South Africa. Twelve finalists, three from each country, were chosen from a record of 123 total entries. Each entry included designs for a full jewellery collection, including a ring, necklace, earrings and bangle/ bracelet. The design was to include a single 1 carat (ct.) polished diamond and pave embellishment was to be 0.05 carats or below. Among the three winners from Botswana were Yozikee Juliet Kariambahe as the second prize winner and Boitshoko Kebakile as the third prize winner.
Speaking during the awards ceremony, De Beers Group Vice President of Corporate Affairs (CA) in Botswana, Otsile Mabeo said they are very excited and proud to be contributing to the evolution of jewellery design talent through the Shining Light Awards. “This programme is an important part of our efforts; The SLA forms part of De Beers’ commitment and passion to ensure that every diamond discovered creates a lasting positive impact for the people in the countries where they are sourced. This sustainability plan is called Building Forever, and it sits at the heart of everything that we do.” For her part, De Beers Group Managed Operations, Managing Director, Nompumelelo Zikalala said through the programme, they are able to help the winners polish their talent and gain world-class skills to get a foothold in the jewellery design industry. “The Shining Light Award recipients are very much like the rough diamonds we recover that get turned into beautiful gemstones.” She said the SLA is a tangible representation of De Beers’ youth beneficiation strategy, designed to create an environment for growth, skills transfer, entrepreneurship, global experiences and mentorship in the jewellery design sector.
An international panel of judges representing the four countries was led by Professor Alba Cappillieri, Faculty Head of Poli. Design and Polytecnic di Milano, in Milan, Italy. He said the entries received this year demonstrated a solid understanding of jewellery design. “What we are looking for is first and foremost logic, the ability to solve a problem in a reasonable, innovative way, and above all commitment, which then translates into a desire to do and learn. The technical tools can be learned over time, while the rest, that kind of attitude mentioned above, is more difficult.”