It is this enthusiastic embrace of working with platinum that has brought seven “alumni” back with new capsules, with four new additions to the “Class of 2024.” PGI also extended an offer of support to the newly minted Luminaries by COUTURE designers by inviting them to create pieces with the naturally white metal. Returning this year are Beck, Harwell Godfrey, Jade Ruzzo, Retrouvaí, Sorellina, Ten Thousand Things and Walters Faith. The new designers selected for the 2024 program are Mike Joseph, Renato Cipullo, Selim Mouzannar and Single Stone. Luminaries by COUTURE designers who opted to create jewelry in platinum are Ama McKinley of Ilium Wing, Bliss Lau and Hiba Husayni of ZAHN-Z Fine Jewelry.

From statement earrings and bold cocktail rings to meaningful pendants and elevated everyday wear, these pieces showcase a breadth of aesthetics and demonstrate platinum’s range and abilities when in the hands of COUTURE’s talented designers and brands.

Mike Joseph:

The fearlessness designer Mike Joseph always showcases in his approach to the design and fabrication process is evident in the ring he created for the COUTURE Platinum Spotlight. Platinum is juxtaposed with black enamel in geometric shapes coming to a concentric point around a kite shaped diamond. The result is breathtaking in its scale and astonishing in the level of skill necessary for its creation.

Renato Cipullo:

An essential part of the Renato Cipullo brand story is the designer’s legacy. Influences of his Italian roots are woven throughout his collections, and his expertise as a craftsman is evident in the details of his design. The pendant Renato created for the COUTURE Platinum Spotlight program, Fortuna, shows the dichotomous concepts of love and money living in perfect harmony, and evokes a sense of antiquity that adds gravitas to the design.

Selim Mouzannar:

French-Lebanese Designer Selim Mouzannar brings a sense of joie de vivre to all of his designs. Drawing inspiration from Ancient thru Art Deco eras, he believes it is his duty to bring happiness to the world through the beauty of his creations. The snake lariat necklace he created for the COUTURE Platinum Spotlight has a Victorian flair with a modern-day style sensibility, with the serpent’s platinum scales revealing Selim’s technical prowess in working with the metal.

Single Stone:

For Single Stone designer, Corina Limon Madilian, each of her designs represents a quest for joy. Along with her husband, Ari, Corina strives to celebrate the beauty of diamonds, while also applying as much thoughtfulness and care to the metal that serves as their stage. The brand’s capsule Platinum Spotlight collection showcases the dramatic difference platinum makes on some of their best-sellers, with the precision the metal is capable of achieving evident in the details of the designs.

Beck:

Designer of Beck, Rebecca Zeijdel-Paz, takes a cool, laid back approach to jewelry. Her work evokes a sense of casual elegance and is as easily suited on a beach or navigating the bustle of a major metropolis. Drawing inspiration from her home in Curaçao, her designs are also informed by her life in New York City. Seeing some of the brand’s core pieces rendered in platinum for her Platinum Spotlight capsule sheds an enhanced light on the subtle beauty in the symmetry and fluidity of her designs.

Harwell Godfrey:

Harwell Godfrey designer, Lauren Harwell Godfrey, is driven by an abundant passion for making things. From design to conception of an idea, she throws herself into all aspects of the process and continually pushes the boundaries of her brand DNA. While still a work in progress, the collar necklace and earring suite Lauren is creating for the Platinum Spotlight program showcases her core aesthetic roots, with the cool metal revealing platinum’s ability to hang in the chicest crowds.

Jade Ruzzo:

For designer Jade Ruzzo, the permanence of a piece of jewelry is a fundamental part of its ability to be a means of self-expression. Her designs highlight the malleability of the metals with which she works, and the overall aesthetic of her collection is chic, 1970’s disco sophisticate. Her meticulous approach to working with platinum in the creation of the disk earrings and ring she designed for the Platinum Spotlight showcases the extreme precision that can be achieved when working with the noble metal.

Retrouvaí:

Designer of Retrouvaí, Kristy Stone, creates jewelry that beautifully melds playful nostalgia with meaningful symbolism. She weaves themes of different eras throughout her body of work, joyously interpreting influences of the past. The brand’s Magna bracelet, when rendered in platinum, pays tribute to the Retro era, and the sophistication of white baguette diamonds encased in the cool white metal serves to highlight the elegant simplicity of the design.

Sorellina:

Sisters Nicole and Kim Carosella of Sorellina are steadfast in their commitment to staying true to their brand DNA. In working with platinum for the first time last year, when they created a stunning collar necklace featuring pearls, diamonds and garnets, the biggest challenge was leveraging the metal’s unique qualities, while also staying within the paradigm of their design language. They have applied the knowledge they gained to this year’s Platinum Spotlight program in the creation of an expansive capsule collection that pairs the naturally white metal with lavender hued Malaya garnet, mother-of-pearl inlay, diamonds, spinel and pearls.

Ten Thousand Things:

There is an aura of mystique and transcendence in the work of David Rees and Ron Anderson, the designing duo behind the venerable Ten Thousand Things brand. Last year’s Platinum Spotlight marked the brand’s inaugural experience in working with the metal, and they found the challenges of the unknown were outweighed by platinum’s ability to emanate a deep glow. They have extended that same glow to the creation of a capsule collection for this year’s Spotlight with pieces that are both moody, and elegant.

Bliss Lau:

Designer Bliss Lau’s reliance on the human body to inform her designs results in pieces that are as comfortable as they are sophisticated. Balancing shapes, lines and textures, her jewelry is a testament to her understanding of how one functions in the world and the designs she created with platinum showcase a profound understanding of the metal’s capabilities, as well as its ability to enhance the gemstones with which it is paired.

Hiba Husayni, ZAHN-Z Fine Jewelry:

With a background in architecture, ZAHN-Z Fine Jewelry designer, Hiba Husayni, has long admired the work of Iraqi-British architect, artist and designer, Dame Zaha Hadid, a.k.a. the Queen of the Curve, who once said, “There are 360 degrees, so why stick to one?” In the development of the piece she created for the Platinum Spotlight, Hiba has applied this understanding to create a design that is complex in its grace and simplicity.