JNA Awards 2015 Honourees Announced

The judging panel consists of five industry experts, namely James Courage, Chairman of the Responsible Jewellery Council (RJC); Albert Cheng, Managing Director of the World Gold Council, Far East (WGC); Lin Qiang, President and Managing Director of SDE; Nirupa Bhatt, Managing Director of GIA India and the Middle East; and Yasukazu Suwa, Chairman of Suwa & Son, Inc.

The Awards serves as an open platform that promotes and encourages the sharing of best practices and innovative ideas for the international jewellery and gemstone industry.  It continues to draw interest among companies across key markets in the trade, including dynamic enterprises from South Korea, Taiwan, the United Kingdom and Vietnam that have been shortlisted for the first time. Other countries represented include Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, the Philippines and Thailand.

Wolfram Diener, Senior Vice President of UBM Asia, said, “The JNA Awards is entering its fourth year, and it is indeed very exciting for us to see such positive and enthusiastic response from the trade both in terms of entrants and quality of entries. We would like to extend our heartfelt thanks to the judges who worked tirelessly and professionally to come up with such a stellar list of finalists.”

Letitia Chow, Chair of the JNA Awards 2015 Judging Panel, Founder of JNA and Director of Business Development – Jewellery Group at UBM Asia, noted, “I have been serving as the Chair of the Judging Panel since the first year and I continue to observe an increasing high level of energy and zeal to excel and advance among the participating companies and individuals. This year, we have added a couple of criteria in the entry rules, which made room for different scale enterprises and newcomers to be qualified as Honourees. It is also encouraging to see past Recipients entering and being shortlisted for categories new to them.  

“As in the past, the members of the judging panel have demonstrated dedication, professionalism and tremendous commitment during the selection process that they themselves exemplify the spirit of the JNA Awards.” 

WGC’s Albert Cheng, a member of the judging panel for the fourth year, commented, “I felt the enthusiasm of the participants through their applications and success stories. I hope the Awards will continue to attract more companies from the region in the coming years. The JNA Awards is truly an excellent platform for the jewellery fraternity to have a reality check every year, benchmark themselves against their peers and learn from the industry’s best practices.”

James Courage from RJC added, “There is a strong spirit of innovation, both technical and in business approach, to meet the challenges of cost, competition and developing new designs. A positive reflection of entrants listening to consumer needs for variety in content, identifying means of purchase, gaining confidence in the product and supplier, and increasing international reach. As before, there are many clear illustrations of the importance of looking at both customer and employee relationships and retention.”   

Lin Qiang of SDE said, “In my fourth year of judging, I continue to be impressed by the innovative spirit and exceptional leadership of the entrants. The quality this year made it difficult to draw up a shortlist of finalists since they have all achieved excellent results in taking their businesses to a higher level, which undoubtedly will raise the bar for future Awards. I believe that the tight competition in the JNA Awards will inspire everyone to excel and thus, drive the whole industry forward.”

GIA’s Nirupa Bhatt added, “It is a privilege to be invited back as a JNA Awards judge for the third consecutive year. The Awards brings together members of the gem and jewellery industry across the globe who are working towards the common goal of expanding and improving our industry. Award categories like ‘Sustainability of the Year’ and ‘Industry Innovation of the Year’ will continue to inspire businesses to strive for excellence. The JNA Awards has undoubtedly become an important industry event.”

Yasukazu Suwa of Suwa & Son remarked, “As a first-time judge on the JNA Awards panel, I was not familiar with most of the participants, but their eagerness to excel in business was apparent. Through their entries, I could feel and see the vitality in Asia. The unique values of these companies have made it possible for them to flourish in a growing regional economy.“One of the challenges I faced was the broad range of companies in terms of size, which goes from less than US $1 million to US $9.9 billion in annual sales. Although the difference in scale affects many things, I had to look at the entrants’ business approach and philosophy, and judge on quality rather than quantity. I was impressed with the calibre of entrants and I found their stories very enlightening.”

The following individuals and companies have been shortlisted as Honourees for the JNA Awards 2015:

3 Decades of Excellence 

• Hong Kong Jewellery & Jade Manufacturers Association – Hong Kong
• Jewelmer Joaillerie – Philippines
• Paspaley – Australia
• Shree Ramkrishna Exports Pvt Ltd – India
•  

Brand of the Year – Retail 

• Chii Lih Coral Co Ltd – Taiwan
• Chow Tai Fook Jewellery Group Limited – Hong Kong
• The Genuine Gemstone Company – United Kingdom
•  

Employer of the Year 

• Chow Tai Fook Jewellery Group Limited – Hong Kong
• Hari Krishna Exports Pvt Ltd – India
• Phu Nhuan Jewelry Joint Stock Company – Vietnam
• Pranda Jewelry Plc – Thailand
•  

Industry Innovation of the Year 

• China Stone Ltd – Thailand
• Chow Tai Fook Jewellery Group Limited – Hong Kong
• Shenzhen United BlueOcean Technology Development Co Ltd – China
• Shenzhen XingGuangDa Jewelry Industrial Co Ltd – China
• Shree Ramkrishna Exports Pvt Ltd – India
•  

Manufacturer of the Year – Coloured Gemstone Cutting & Polishing 

• Lorenzo Jewelry Limited – Hong Kong
• RMC Gems India Limited – India
•  

Manufacturer of the Year – Diamond Cutting & Polishing 

• Hari Krishna Exports Pvt Ltd – India
• J.B. And Brothers Pvt Ltd – India
•  

Manufacturer of the Year – Gem-Set Jewellery 

• KGK Jewellery Mfg Ltd – Hong Kong
• Lorenzo Jewelry Limited – Hong Kong
• MKS Jewelry International Co Ltd – Thailand
• Shenzhen Ganlu Jewelry Co Ltd – China
•  

Manufacturer of the Year – Precious Metals-Only Jewellery 

• Shenzhen Cuilu Jewellery Co Ltd – China
• Shenzhen Batar Investment Holding Group Co Ltd – China
• Shenzhen Ganlu Jewelry Co Ltd – China
• Shenzhen United BlueOcean Technology Development Co Ltd – China
•  

Outstanding Enterprise of the Year – ASEAN Countries 

• China Stone Ltd – Thailand
• PANDORA Production Co Ltd – Thailand
• Phu Nhuan Jewelry Joint Stock Company – Vietnam
•  

Outstanding Enterprise of the Year – India 

• J.B. And Brothers Pvt Ltd – India
• Kashi Jewellers – India
• Shree Ramkrishna Exports Pvt Ltd – India
•  

Outstanding Enterprise of the Year – Mainland China 

• KGK Diamonds (Shanghai) Ltd – China
• Shenzhen Batar Investment Holding Group Co Ltd – China
• Shenzhen Bofook Jewellery Co Ltd – China
• Shenzhen XingGuangDa Jewelry Industrial Co Ltd – China
•  

Retailer of the Year (450 outlets and below) 

• Golden Dew Co Ltd – South Korea
• Phu Nhuan Jewelry Joint Stock Company – Vietnam
•  

E-tailer of the Year 

• KELA – China
• The Genuine Gemstone Company – United Kingdom
• Vaibhav Global Limited – India
•  

Sustainability Initiative of the Year 

• Kiran Gems Private Limited – India
• Shenzhen 3D-KET Jewellery Company Limited – China
• Shenzhen United BlueOcean Technology Development Co Ltd – China
• Shenzhen XingGuangDa Jewelry Industrial Co Ltd – China
•  

Young Entrepreneur of the Year (Age 40 and below) 

• Mr. Kwan Sit, Shenzhen Bofook Jewellery Co., Ltd – China
• Mr. Lei Xu, Zbird China – China

The Recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award will be nominated by the organiser, and the announcement will be made at a later date.

This year’s JNA Awards ceremony and gala dinner will be held on Sunday, 20 September, at the Regal Airport Hotel Hong Kong, during the September Hong Kong Jewellery & Gem Fair. It is an industry-wide event that honours and recognises excellence and achievement in the global jewellery trade with a focus on contributions and achievements made in the Asian region. It is a ticketed event by application only. Interested parties may submit their request by logging on to www.JNAawards.com

For more information, please contact:

JNA Awards Marketing
UBM Asia (Hong Kong) 
+852 2516 2184
[email protected]