Jewellery World Magazine - March 2022

PEOPLE'S CHOICE
MARIA KOSTINA
Item:
Ring
Name of piece:
Sea Urchin on the Rockpools
Description:
A bold white gold statement cocktail ring. The wavy shank sides
are channel set with baguettes. The heavy shank base, pave set
with 204 diamonds, symbolises glistening sand on the ocean floor.
The top symbolises the rockpool with the sea urchin taking centre stage as a Japanaese
Akoya pearl with an ombre layout of blue sapphires to colourless diamonds. Outside
are the baby sea urchins represented by Akoya seed pearls and adorned with blue
sapphire under halos as the ocean.
Inspiration for Maria Kostina’s winning piece came from a walk around the rockpools at
Sydney’s Collaroy. She saw an opportunity to create a piece of jewellery that was not only
beautiful, but which also carried an important message, as all jewellery does, she says.
The rockpools at Collaroy have tiny sea creatures
living in them such as anemone, crabs, sea urchins
and more. One morning I saw a sea urchin shell just
lying on top of one of the rocks and it made me
think. If we don't preserve the oceans’ wildlife now,
we will only see the shells like this in the museums.
The “Sea Urchin on the Rockpools” design is an
advocate for all the sea creatures and animals.
I created a statement cocktail ring which, I
hope, will spark a conversation and focus some
attention on the issues of ocean pollution and
the preservation of sea-life. Art and jewellery are
conversation starters and I hope that this ring will
raise issues and educate everyone who comes
across it and make them interested in this global
problem. The result which I’m trying to achieve is
to keep oceans clean and help preserve sea animals
and sea life safe for future generations.
I like think the piece is already having some impact,
having been selected as a finalist and winning the
People’s Choice Award.
For me, jewellery is a miniature wearable art piece
which represents a point in life for a person. The
pieces are meaningful and might not look like
the event which they are representing, but in the
beholder’s eye, the jewellery is a time capsule and
the preservation of that point of time of their life.
Jewellery is body adornment too, which is about
representing personal style. The wearer is adorning
themselves in jewellery to show the world their
personality, style, and character – a voice and an
unsaid message.
This award is definitely a special achievement for
me and a proud one which I have strived for and
was such a surprise and an honour to receive! I
believe that this is a stepping stone in my career
and an acknowledgement that I will use as a
momentum to commence my jewellery design
collection as this has provided me with all the
confidence necessary to succeed providing me with
the recognition from the public.
My current plans in the works are to create two
jewellery collections and to set up a studio for client
meetings. My dream is to create art jewellery and
hopefully enter other markets like USA, Middle East,
or Japan in the near future.
As a CAD designer for the trade, I don’t make too
many physical pieces or in fact I don’t get much of
a chance to bring to life and create my ideas, and
so this competition gave me a great reason to make
something I’m passionate about – to tell a story
and to execute a complex piece to be shown as my
vision to the public eye.
Design competitions are highly motivating, though
it’s not about winning. It’s about creating a piece
within a short timeframe that really pushes you
to make and execute a project within the extreme
deadlines It has also taught me to be patient and
have resilience!
I believe more designers should enter this
competition and showcase their work because I
meet so many designers just in Sydney who are
hesitant, and they have incredible pieces! The
important part of the competition is to see and
showcase all the talent we have across Australasia
and this needs to be brought to spotlight for the
public eye. My advice is just to “go for it” and make
something that is you, creative and unique, pushing
your own boundaries as a designer and creating a
challenging piece which you can learn from.
I’d like to thank my team for making this happen
in such a short turn-around. Their patience and
attention to detail to make it right, particularly
because we started making it during the lockdown
when the due date for the entry was in July 2021,
and we had only one week to physically create the
piece as I just came out of hotel quarantine!
Most importantly I’d like to thank my parents, my
family and friends and each and every person who
has voted and supported me along the way. It's
been a truly humbling experience and I couldn’t
believe the amount of support that I have received!
I’d like to dedicate this award to each and every
person who has voted for my piece. Your support
has provided me with such a boost of confidence
and the belief that I’m on the right path doing what
I love and, most of all, that there is an audience out
there for my designs.
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