THE COMPETITION FOR ALL BUDDING TALENT
Motto: “The magic of tourmaline – a gemstone at the heart of creation”
Of course, our young talent competition will also be a highlight in 2025:
THE GOLDEN NOVA has been offering participants a fantastic opportunity for years to showcase their creations to a broad trade audience and to make a successful entry into the industry. The competition also offers high-quality advertising opportunities and numerous industry contacts.
Young designers, students, apprentices and graduates, start-ups, newcomers and career changers as well as all other up-and-coming talent were once again cordially invited to apply for the GOLDEN NOVA 2025.
Our high-caliber jury of experts will nominate 10 creations from all entries, which will be presented in a special area during the INOVA COLLECTION from 29 – 31 August 2025. The top three winners will be selected on-site by our jury and can look forward to receiving high-quality cash and material prizes from our sponsoring partners.
In addition to the jury awards, our trade audience will vote for their favorite during the INOVA COLLECTION. The winner of the Audience Award will have the opportunity to present their work in a complimentary exhibition space at the INOVA COLLECTION 2026.
From now on, all participants can register for the GOLDEN NOVA 2025 via our online application. After successful registration, you can submit your application until 29 June 2025. Please note that you must submit your application in German – therefore the application portal is also only available in German.
Here’s the link to register in the german online application portal:
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Entry criteria – requirements for your participation
- The competition is aimed at new talents from German-speaking countries. This includes all young designers, students, apprentices, graduates, startups, as well as newcomers and career changers, who are warmly invited to apply for THE GOLDEN NOVA.
- There are no age restrictions or limits regarding the jewellery categories for applicants.
- Those who are already active in the trade must not have been working in the industry for more than one year.
- Each participant may submit only one finished piece of jewelry for the competition. Concepts, drawings, incomplete pieces, or jewelry sets cannot be considered (except for one pair of earrings).
- Submitted jewellery must be created in accordance with this year’s theme.
- Applicants must have made the submitted piece of jewellery themselves. Parts of the piece of the jewellery must not have been designed or produced by third parties.
- Those who have previously applied for the GOLDEN NOVA may also apply for the GOLDEN NOVA 2025, provided they meet the criteria mentioned above. In this case, the piece pf jewellery must be a new one, in line with the current theme.
- Applicants belonging to a company exhibiting at the INOVA COLLECTION 2025 are allowed to apply, as long as they meet the criteria mentioned above.
Award Sponsors & Prizes 2025
Place 1 – 10
Thanks to the support of our partner VALORIMA – the jewellery insurance of the Mannheimer, all nominees will be perfectly showcased in the Award area of the GOLDEN NOVA: Each of the ten pieces of jewellery will be displayed in a high-quality presentation showcase during the INOVA COLLECTION 2025, ensuring optimal visibility among trade press, key industry representatives, and an interested professional audience!
A heartfelt thank you also goes to Parcel Broker. The business shipping partner for valuables organizes the free round-trip shipping of jewellery pieces for our emerging talents.
In addition, places 1 to 10 will be supported by professional product images from our partner scope Marketing.
Lastly, all nominees can look forward to media exposure: We will feature the best pieces of jewellery in our partner medium, Goldschmiede Zeitung, and on our website in detail.
1st place
€ 1,600 | CARL SCHAEFER GOLD AND SILVER REFINERY
The first place of the GOLDEN NOVA will be awarded by Carl Schaefer Gold and Silver Refinery with a precious metal account worth € 1,600. For over 160 years, Carl Schaefer has been one of the renowned refineries and is now a specialist in precious metal recycling, as well as a competent partner for industry, trade, and craftsmanship.
Additionally, Carl Schaefer invites the winner and the associated training company to take a behind-the-scenes look at the refinery!
2nd place
€ 1,200 | RUDOLF FLUME TECHNIK
The winner of second place can look forward to a shopping voucher from RUDOLF FLUME Technik worth € 1,200. As a wholesaler for watch and jewellery technology, RUDOLF FLUME Technik offers a broad portfolio of equipment and machines, watch and jewellery spare parts, tools, care and cleaning supplies, and much more.
In addition, FLUME will enable the runner-up to take part in a 2- to 4-hour electroplating workshop in Essen free of charge.
3rd place
€ 900 | DARBIN & BRENING – LAB GROWN DIAMOND JEWELLERY
The winner of third place will receive a shopping voucher from DARBIN & BRENING worth € 900. As a wholesaler of high-quality diamond jewellery, specializing in lab-grown diamonds, DARBIN & BRENING offers certified and conflict-free diamonds as a reliable partner to the trade. Their individualized consulting concept provides tailored solutions.
Additionally, the winners of places 1 to 3 will once again receive a complimentary annual subscription to Goldschmiede Zeitung this year.
Audience Award
€ 600 | scope Marketing
In addition to the jury award, our professional audience will vote for their favourite during the INOVA COLLECTION from August 29th to 31st, 2025.
The winner of the Audience Award will have the opportunity to present their work in a complimentary exhibition space at the INOVA COLLECTION 2026.
To complete the overall package, our media partner scope Marketing is sponsoring a customised media production worth € 600. The winner can choose from services such as product photography, videos, or portrait shots to create the perfect package.
Expert jury 2025
Michael Jahr
Head of Gold- and Silversmiths’ Guild and Jewelers Frankfurt am Main
Michael Jahr completed his training as a goldsmith with Uhren Weiss in Rüsselsheim. After three years, he decided to further his education by training to become a state-certified jewellery designer in Idar-Oberstein. During his training, he also became a master goldsmith at the Chamber of Crafts in Koblenz. In July 1992, Michael Jahr turned to self-employment running his own goldsmith’s studio in Rüsselsheim. He is head of the guild Gold- und Silberschmiede-Innung sowie Juweliere in Frankfurt am Main. He has won the FBZ Ahlen international design competition and sat on the jury of the 16th Hessian Design Prize.
Prof. Dr. Thomas Hensel
Chair of Art and Design Theory | Pforzheim University
Prof. Dr. Thomas Hensel studied philosophy, art history, classical archaeology and business management in Hamburg, Munich and Vallendar. He is a winner of the Aby M. Warburg Prize awarded by the Senate of the Free Hanseatic City of Hamburg. In 2013, he was appointed Professor of Art and Design Theory at the School of Design at the University of Pforzheim. He is also a member of the Faculty of Danube University Krems, Director of the Institute for Human Engineering & Empathic Design in Pforzheim (HEED) and exhibition curator. His main research areas are media history and the history of knowledge and science in art science (especially Aby Warburg), game studies, Old German painting and drawing (esp. Albrecht Dürer and the Danube School) and design history and theory (esp. Bauhaus and Ulm School of Design).
Dr. Christianne Weber-Stöber
Retired Director of the German Goldsmiths’ House and
Retired Managing Director of the Society for Goldsmithing
Dr. Christianne Weber-Stöber, art historian and jewellery scientist, numerous publications to contemporary jewellery and hollow- and flatware design. Publications to jewellery, fashion, silverware, focal point 20th/21st century. Since 1989-2023 general manager of the Association for Goldsmiths’ Art in Hanau, a non-profit association promoting gold- and silverware design on national and international rank. 2006-2023 director of the German Goldsmiths’ House.
Axel Henselder
Editor-in-Chief of the goldsmiths’ newspaper, GZ Goldschmiede Zeitung
Axel Henselder is a qualified publisher and graduate in business administration who has been editor-in-chief of the leading industry journal, GZ Goldschmiede Zeitung, since 2004. As such, he has been a member of the jury panel or assessor for several well-known awards, including selections for the Talents Area at the Tendence trade fair in Frankfurt, the German Jewellery and Gemstone Prize in Idar-Oberstein and the Tahitian Pearl Trophy. He was previously responsible for special interest and trade titles at Frankfurt-based publishers Umschau Zeitschriftenverlag and for the corporate communication publications service at Hoechst AG.
This was the GOLDEN NOVA 2024
The GOLDEN NOVA award ceremony took place on 30 August 2024 at the start of the INOVA COLLECTION.
Under the motto ‘Sea love – maritime jewellery for all the senses’, ten nominated talents presented their creative designs on the award area, which had previously been selected by a top-class jury of experts.
We congratulate all the winners and wish them a successful start in the industry!
The winners 2024
GOLD
Vanessa Tschentke | LOFTWERK Wiesbaden
Waves tumble over one another in the roaring sea of the senses. A ‘waveplay’ of feelings.
My bracelet symbolises the special moment of becoming one with the seawater. It calls up memories of maritime experiences. It radiates the cool colours of the ocean. Roaring waves gently flatter the sense of hearing. Salt sea air fills the room. The raw structures of the bracelet flatter the skin. The sea is palpably close.
Waveplay | Bracelet
925 silver | Perspex and ball bearings
SILVER
Maria Giegerich | Atelier Stoess
Smell is very abstract and difficult to reproduce consciously, so I have tried to capture the smell of the sea in this jewellery piece. I found a way in the form of a pomander. What I found persuasive was the combination of the typical fish smell, salt and freshness. The design of the ball is inspired by the skeletons of sea-urchins and I have stylised it to form a modern pomander that offers up to my senses bitter-sweet memories of the sea.
RÁN | Necklace
925 silver | Cultured freshwater pearls
BRONZE
Chiara Czerner | Pforzheim School of Design (Hochschule für Gestaltung Pforzheim)
The bubble-k ring took its inspiration from a particular variety of seagrass (bubble kelp seaweed). From a piece of sheet metal was crafted a ring that nestles itself onto the hand and finger. As a highlight the crafted metal holds two blue-green Tahiti pearls reflecting the sea and also the ‘bubbles’. The pearls have a degree of play that produces an attractive sound, thereby bringing the sense of hearing in as well.
bubble-k | Ring
925 silver | Tahiti pearls
BRONZE
Lissy Sophie Ossig | Pforzheim School of Design (Hochschule für Gestaltung Pforzheim)
Under the sea are hidden breathtaking ecosystems of incomparable beauty. Since the beginning of time, people have shared their fascination for the wonderful shapes in this world of water, and have crafted elements of it into jewellery. Corals are frequently used, for example, although sadly excessive exploitation has put a huge strain on nature. I wanted to grasp the beauty of the coral in a different manner and transform it into an item of jewellery.
Coral dance | Necklace
925 silver
SPECIAL MENTION
Liv Grundorf | Schönke Atelier Gold & Platinum
For this piece of jewellery, flotsam and jetsam (collected treasures) were applied to the body in an unconventional way: upcycling. Shells, pearls and mica symbolise sea spray, sugar becomes sand and agate beads represent drops of water. Coral branches, glass beads and small fish (silver & silver-gilt) and silica beads reflecting the water are combined in a transparent rubber tube – the aquarium.
Sea to go | Necklace
925 silver, blue agate beads and cultured pearls
You can find even more impressions in our flickr gallery.
More pictures