The Most Beautiful Ring of the Year 2021 competition
I’m thrilled that my Ice Queen -ring was selected as one of the finalists in the The Most Beautiful Ring of the Year 2021 competition. This year marks the 14th anniversary of this competition in Finland and the theme this year was the esthetics of the times past. The idea was to honour the origin and longevity of the Finnish jewellery design and goldsmith tradition.
The jury of the competition chose the finalists based on the quality, usability and aesthetics of the ring as well as how well the name and story behind the ring support the execution of the final piece. Ten finalists were selected from 80 participants and the finalists, in addition to myself, include: Petri Eklöf, Thomas Narsakka, Pia-Mari Jull, Christoffer Nyström, Anu Kaartinen, Kristian Saarikorpi, Jouni Saarenpää, Terho Hannonen and Vesa Nilsson. The winner will be voted from these finalists by the people in an open voting: https://www.haat.fi/artikkeli/aanesta-vuoden-kaunein-sormus-2021.
The antique style design of my Ice Queen ring was inspired by Alma Pihl, a Finnish jewelry designer working for the famous Fabergé in Saint Petersburg. One of her most known creations is the unbelievably beautiful and skillful Winter Egg that was made for Empress Maria Feodorovna in 1913. Alma Pihl's signature frost flowers and icy features can also be found in many other of her stunning jewellery creations from pendants to brooches and bracelets.
Ice Queen is a one-of-a-kind ring featuring a beautiful unique rough diamond giving it an icy and antiquey look at the same time. It took me over a year to find this specific stone as I wanted a rock with bit less inclusions and more clear spots than this type of icy diamonds normally have. I had this icy, snowy image in my mind so I wanted the inclusions to be as cold white as possible. I think I managed to find the perfect stone in the end because it has such beautiful icy features, level of clarity and shade of colour. The centrepiece diamond together with the sparkly colourless diamonds around it and the ice crystal patterns in the open gallery, create the look of the magical Finnish winter forest in the moonlight that I was going for.
