Rhys Turner and Peter Atkinson, jewellers from our Melbourne member MDTdesign took out 3 awards at this years event.

Rhys Turner took out the pinnacle award of Jeweller of the Year for his angular and architecturally inspired piece, Facets of Morality.

Turner won the Coloured Gemstone award earlier in the evening for the platinum and parti sapphire ring that features multiple finishes including sandblast, polish and emery.

He said being recognised among the other jewellers – there were 40 finalists – was a privilege and that he never expected to take the top gong.

“I definitely wasn’t expecting it at all but I’m absolutely stoked,” Turner explained. “To see the people that you’re up against is sort of just mind blowing. I can’t believe that mine got picked out of all of them.”

When commenting on his decision to enter the Coloured Gemstone category, Turner said, ”I work with colourless diamonds a lot so it’s the coloured gemstones that have been standing out to me lately.

“I really wanted to work with Australian sapphire, and I wanted to design a piece that complemented the sapphire – something that wasn’t just about the metal, which is often what people assume jewellers are about.”

Turner was clearly excited about the win, but already had his sights set on entering again in two years time.

“I entered the awards in 2012 and I got a lot out of that. I would definitely love to enter again. I think entering the awards keep pushing you to challenge yourself so I’ll keep on doing it for sure.”

Fellow MDT Design jeweller Peter Atkinson also won the Coloured Gemstone award for his amazing pearl and diamond ring.

Congratulations to Rhys and Peter from all at Diamond Guild Australia.