THE VO AWARDS DEBUT: VICENZAORO CELEBRATES EXCELLENCE IN JEWELLERY
Vicenzaoro, the international gold, jewellery and watch show, a reference point for the global jewellery industry with its two annual editions in September and January, is introducing a big new feature: the VO Awards, official prizes to celebrate the best expressions of creativity, innovation, sustainability and craftsmanship in jewellery design.
A recognition with which Italian Exhibition Group’s longest-running event in the sector, with over 70 years behind it, intends to promote the supply chain’s protagonists from among its exhibitors and internationally enhance creations that are able to inspire and pave the way to the sector’s future.
By means of an international jury of high-profile experts and buyer and visitor votes, the VO Awards will reward the most extraordinary works, offering the winners a unique stage: Vicenzaoro January 2026, scheduled to take place at Vicenza Expo Centre – Italy from 16th to 20th January 2026.
“With the VO Awards we want to celebrate every aspect of the art of jewellery” – says Michela Amenduni, IEG’s Marketing & Communication Manager Jewellery & Fashion – “and further strengthen Vicenzaoro’s role as an international hub for jewellery design. We are consolidating a tradition that, for over 70 years, has united heritage and future, business and creativity, style and technology as innovation drivers. We are also enhancing the chain, one of Made in Italy’s distinctive elements, and making room for new generations of designers who are breathing new life into the sector.”
Matteo Farsura, Global Exhibition Manager Jewellery & Fashion at IEG, underlines: “The VO Awards add further value to the Vicenzaoro universe with a project that involves not only the jewellery manufacturing sector, but also distribution and the wide range of expertise that converges in our industry, fostering a virtuous cycle with the show at its center. The initiative also highlights the trend and design know-how that has always been a hallmark of our Jewellery Boutique Show. It is part of IEG’s broader commitment to offering the market opportunities through innovative formats and original content”.
THE VO AWARD CATEGORIES
The competition will have eight categories, each representing a creative world, a stylistic vision, a different interpretation of the goldsmith’s excellence. In line with the exhibition format of Vicenzaoro – The Jewellery Boutique Show, based on homogeneous Communities of companies with a common identity, positioning and language, the VO Awards will involve Italian and foreign exhibitors from the ICON, LOOK and CREATION communities.
For ICON high jewellery, awards will go to the Best in ICON – High End Jewellery and Best in ICON – One-of-a-kind Jewellery; for gold and silver goldsmith manufacturing in CREATION, Best in Creation – Goldsmith Production and Best in Creation – Silver Production; for contemporary jewellery in LOOK, Best in Look – Fashion Jewellery and Best in Look – Fine Jewellery. Last but not least, there will be two special categories: Best in Special – Chain for innovation and expertise in chain processing, and Best in Special – Young for talents under 30, the sector’s new protagonists.
Entries are already open: companies exhibiting at Vicenzaoro January 2026 have until November 30th, 2025 to register their creations.
The winners of the 1st edition of the VO Awards, adjudicated by a multidisciplinary jury of experts, will be announced at Vicenzaoro January 2026.
The finalist jewels – the three best creations for each category in the competition, selected by the technical jury – will be on display during the January edition of Vicenzaoro so that buyers and visitors will also be able to express their preference and contribute to the final outcome of the voting.
THE EXPERT JURY
The technical jury will consist of twelve experts. A pool of prominent exponents from the international panorama of jewellery, fashion, gemmology, manufacturing, retail and communication, summoned to express their skills in an authoritative and solid analysis of the competition entries.
For technology and innovation, Damiano Zito (CEO & Chairman at Progold S.p.A., as well as president of The Vicenza Symposium); for production and manufacture, Nicolò Rapone (Chief Operations Officer at Bulgari); for sustainability, Alice Vanni (CSR Director, Member of the Board of Directors at Italpreziosi) and Iris Van Der Veken (Executive Director & Secretary General, WJI – Watches & Jewellery Initiative 2030; Member of the 100 Women @ Davos Inclusive Leadership Council); for distribution, Stéphanie Hernandez Barragan (Buying and Marketing Director for Watches & Jewelry Galeries Lafayette Group), Costanza and Candido Operti (Owners and administrators of Antica Orologeria Candido Operti); from the gemmology world, Rui Galopim De Carvalho (Gem Education Consultant). Further jury members will be designer Carolina Bucci (Carolina Bucci Firenze), trend expert Paola De Luca (Trendvision Jewellery + Forecasting Founder & Creative Director), journalists Kyle Roderick (Fine jewelry and timepiece journalist for Forbes.com; author and photo editor of Bejeweled: The World of Ethical Jewelry – Rizzoli, 2019; founder and editor of @bijouxreview) and Federica Frosini (Editor in Chief of VO+ Jewelry Magazine).
