Editor’s Note
KISHUN Inc. is launching its second annual design contest to discover and support emerging talent in upcycled jewelry. The initiative underscores the company’s commitment to fostering creativity and sustainable innovation within the industry.
KISHUN Inc. (Headquarters: Taito-ku, Tokyo; Representative Director: Shun Tsuji), a company engaged in the upcycled jewelry business, will begin accepting entries for the ‘KISHUN Dream Contest ~An Experience That Changes 180 Degrees~’ on Tuesday, October 10, 2023. This contest, now in its second iteration, aims to create opportunities for young talent to shine by soliciting jewelry designs.
The contest features a General Category and a Kids Category (for children up to 12 years old). The design items sought are rings and necklaces, with the theme stones being ruby, sapphire, and emerald. Submitted designs will be judged by external judges alongside the company, with Grand Prizes and Special Prizes awarded in each category.
In recent years, awareness of the SDGs has been growing worldwide. The company revives and provides value to used gemstones that were previously considered ‘worthless’ and discarded. The jewelry industry faces challenges such as the environmental burden of gemstone mining (including CO2 emissions) and social issues in producing countries, like forced labor and revenue exploitation. Therefore, it is crucial for the jewelry industry to advance its efforts toward the SDGs.
To continue sustainable manufacturing in the future, the power of the younger generation, who will bear the future, is essential. The scale of the jewelry industry, often called a sunset industry, is shrinking year by year, and the aging of jewelry craftsmen and designers is progressing.
General Category
Grand Prize (1 winner): 150,000 yen prize money, design productization.
Special Prize (2 winners): 50,000 yen prize money, selected loose stones.
Kids Category (up to 12 years old)
Grand Prize (1 winner): Nintendo Switch Lite, design productization.
Special Prize (3 winners): Large loose stones, drawing set.
Schedule
Application Period: October 10 (Tue) – November 10 (Fri), 2023, 23:59.
Judging: November 10 (Fri) – November 17 (Fri), 2023.
Announcement: November 17 (Fri), 2023, on the company website.
Productization: Production begins November 20 (Mon), 2023, with completion scheduled for January 2024.
Judges
・Creator: Mr. Dan Nakamura (Focuses on transparency in materials, production processes, and recycling/utilization of materials. Creates works with ‘transparency’ as a constant concept while changing forms such as jewelry, chandeliers, and bags, and developing materials himself.)
・CEO of Marketing Eyes Inc.: Mr. Rioshu Zhou (Works as a consultant specializing in marketing. Provides consulting for new business launches and branding construction, as well as corporate training to strengthen the marketing capabilities of B2B sales organizations.)
The jewelry industry may have a glamorous image, but producing countries face serious social problems such as forced labor, revenue exploitation, and CO2 emissions from mining, involving human rights abuses and environmental destruction.
The company, which first assigned value to colored stones deemed ‘worthless,’ continues to create new value through this reframing approach, not limited to stones but extending to all corporate activities, such as unique employee benefits and promoting women’s participation, ‘unconstrained by preconceptions.’ KISHUN has established ‘Reframing Company’ as its basic policy.