Designing the Future: Revealing the Winners of the Katerina Perez x Osmium Institute Design Contest

Competitions have always held a special place in my heart, they take me right back to childhood, when I would spend hours sketching, painting, and submitting my little creations for art contests. There was something exhilarating about the anticipation, the sense of possibility. Fast forward to today, and I found myself reliving that excitement in a new light—not just as a judge, but as the proud co-creator of the first-ever Katerina Perez x Osmium Institute Design Contest. What a ride it has been, witnessing such pure creative energy and original thinking, especially with a material as rare and futuristic as osmium.

The Katerina Perez x Osmium Institute Design Contest, also known as the Osmium Visionary Contest, was conceived as a platform to challenge jewellery designers to explore the creative potential of osmium, the world's rarest precious metal. Launched in early 2025, the competition opened for entries on February 3. The idea emerged from my fascination with osmium's unique crystalline brilliance and its potential to inspire innovation in jewellery design. Collaborating with the Osmium Institute, we aimed to encourage designers to push boundaries and reimagine their craft using this extraordinary material.

We received an incredible 394 design entries from 234 talented designers, each offering a fresh and imaginative take on osmium. Out of these, 73 standout designs were selected as finalists. Designers had the option to submit up to three creations and it was incredible to see that 106 participants submitted one, 62 submitted two, and 44 submitted all three. Adding to the excitement was the competition’s remarkable global reach, with entries from 47 countries — from the UK and USA to India, Brazil, Iran and beyond. Each submission brought a distinct cultural lens, resulting in a dynamic showcase of how osmium can inspire creativity across continents.

I had the joy of joining a diverse panel of judges, each bringing a unique lens to the competition. Frédéric Mané, an award-winning French designer, was taken by osmium’s artistic pull, noting that “its brilliance and rarity almost demand exploration”. Jewellery designer Anthony Garcia from Brazil noted how designers elevated the metal beyond luxury into something symbolic of “identity, innovation, and individuality”. Tania Chan, a creative jewellery designer from Hong Kong, spoke of designs that felt “like modern artefacts or pieces from the future”. Richard Reis, representing the Osmium Institute, shared how “on social media, you could feel the global creative energy growing”. Finally, Lorenz Bäumer, the legendary Place Vendôme jeweller, praised the blend of avant-garde thinking and commercial potential seen in the entries, and I can also attest to the fearless innovation this rare and mysterious metal fostered in our participants. 

Selecting the Winners

What made the judging process particularly fascinating was how varied each designers’ perspective turned out to be—there was surprisingly little overlap, which speaks volumes about the originality and quality of the entries. As judges, we each gravitated toward completely different aesthetics and ideas. Some of my favourite entries included designs by Pasquale Rossi, Mariyeh Ghelichkhani, Golnaz Etemadi and Julien Sahyoun, whereas my fellow judges raved about Thomas Giesen, Tony Furion, Remy Roetenier, Carolina Amigo Segui, Berke Henny, Andrea Lethiers, Carolina Amigo Segui, Pasquale Rossi, Moira Patience and many more!

As you can imagine, deliberating as to who the winners should be was especially challenging with such differing points of view. However, we eventually arrived at a consensus and plotted the perfect ‘grand reveal’ at GemGenève on Sunday, May 11. The winners received their award certificates, retrieved their prizes, and engaged with the press during a special ceremony at the Osmium Institute booth. For those unable to attend in person, a pre-recorded video message was shown to ensure their presence was still felt, allowing them to share in the celebration of their remarkable achievements.

In Third Place…

Third place went to Pasquale Rossi for The Gaze of the Digital Age, a bold ring exploring the paradoxes of our screen-obsessed lives. At its core, an octagonal osmium lock with a keyhole symbolises the tension between revelation and restriction, reflecting how digital voyeurism blurs the line between connection and detachment. Drawing from jewellery, architecture, and tech, Pasquale crafts thought-provoking pieces that invite deeper reflection and dialogue.

In Second Place…

Dutch goldsmith and designer Berke Henny, known for merging traditional craftsmanship with avant-garde ideas, won second place with his piece Osmé. This pair of earrings doesn’t just incorporate osmium—it embodies it. Inspired by the metal’s solid, liquid, and gaseous states, Berke turned a typically rigid material into something that flows, breathes, and moves with the body. The solid state is represented through its inlay application, while the liquid and gaseous states are expressed through the fluid, organic shapes of the overall design. Platinum accents complement the osmium, enhancing both its elegance and wearability. A masterclass in alchemy, Osmé felt like watching a scientific phenomenon rendered wearable.

In First Place…

The Osmium Jewellery Design Competition showed just how evocative and imaginative this rare metal can be in the hands of true creatives. Indonesian designer Bernadette Yodia, whose journey began during an internship in Bali and later led her to collaborate with brands like Van Cleef & Arpels and John Hardy, claimed first prize. She believes jewellery holds intangible stories—and her brooch Serenade of the Moon tells one of moonlit stillness and poetic serenity. Gleaming osmium forms the moon, while diamonds and sapphires shimmer like stars and reflections on water. A beautiful and brilliant design.

The Prizes

As our first-place winner, Bernadette Yodia receives €30,000 worth of osmium to bring her creation to life. Our second and third place winners receive €20,000 and €10,000 worth of osmium, respectively. All qualifying entrants will now feature in a special competition catalogue, while the Top 20 entries will gain additional exposure on Instagram and in the Osmium magazine over the coming weeks. 

To all the designers who took the leap and shared their vision with us, thank you. Your imagination, skill, and courage to experiment with osmium turned this contest into something truly unforgettable. Each design, whether selected as a finalist or not, contributed to a wave of creative momentum that we’re proud to have sparked. 

Given the overwhelming talent and enthusiasm we’ve witnessed, we’re already considering bringing the contest back in 2026. Until then, keep creating, keep challenging conventions and keep showing the world what jewellery can be.