(PRESS RELEASE) The 2024 Australian Opal Awards celebrate jewelry design and carving featuring Australian Opal, with entrants from across the world entering for a chance to win a share of $35,000AUD of cash and prizes.
“Operating for over 20 years, the awards have recently attracted significant sponsorship, allowing for a comprehensive overhaul of the awards and increasing exposure of Australian opal on the world stage” enthuses Kavitha Barron, president.
“The Open Prestige Jewellery category is open to all shapes of Australian opal including cabochon, freeform and undulating opal, with the category receiving significant support from the Australian opal industry, funding the $15,000AUD first prize.”
“All other categories feature freeform or undulating opal, allowing competitors to promote methods of opal cutting that conserve opal and increase international demand for freeform opal, encouraging both sustainability but also showcasing the individual beauty of each stone.”
To appeal to those in more remote locations, we have made advances in how competitors can enter the competition, with a new category enabling a digital entry to be submitted, with videos analyzed by judges,” Kavitha continued.
Entries close 5 July 2024.
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Selected entries will be on display during the Lightning Ridge Opal Festival – 24-27 July 2024. Winners will be announced during the gala dinner to be held in Lightning Ridge on Friday 26 July 2024.
Go here for details of all the award categories, judging criteria and sponsors.
The Australian Opal Awards is the award section of the International Opal Jewellery Design Awards Association (IOJDAA). The Association is a not-for-profit organization founded in 2000 to promote freeform or undulating Australian opal.
