Jewellery designers shine again

FOR THE past 20 years, PlatAfrica has been used as a springboard by jewellery students to launch their careers. And this year has been no different. For 2019, 16 finalists in two categories went head-to-head to see who would come out on top with the best designs.

The competition saw new entrants but one of the winners, Ester Boshoff, was not a new face. She last entered the competition nine years ago as a student at the Tshwane University of Technology.

Boshoff, owner of Belubell Jewellery, was one of the six finalists who were selected in the professional category. She said winning was an honour.

“It meant that people saw what we can do, and we are proud of what we have achieved. It meant a lot to be able to stand there with the big boys and receive this honour,” Boshoff said.

She said she took a while to re-enter the competition because she was still perfecting her art.

Anglo American Platinum market development specialist Adithi Naidoo said PlatAfrica was a market development initiative aimed at promoting innovation and technical expertise in platinum jewellery.

Naidoo said through PlatAfrica they had given students and professional jewellers the chance to work with platinum over the years, thereby building the local skills base.

“We realised many years ago that we are in the lucky position where we can influence the demand for our products through clever marketing, similar to what’s been done in the diamond industry,” she said.