At the 41st annual 2025 American Gem Trade Association (AGTA) Spectrum & Cutting Edge Awards, Mark Loren, owner and founder of Mark Loren Designs, was recognized with Fashion Forward Honors and was awarded second place for earrings entered in the Bridal Wear category.<\/p>\n
The competition took place from Oct. 31 to Nov. 1 at the Omni Frisco Hotel at the Star in Dallas. More than 300 pieces were submitted, including more than 30 new entrants and six first-time winners. Judges for the 2025 competition included Craig Underwood of Underwood\u2019s Jewelers, Donald Janson of Walters & Hogsett Jewelers, Blaine Lewis of the New Approach School for Jewelers, Clay Zava of Zava Mastercuts, and Erica Courtney of Erica Courtney, LLC.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe American Gem Trade Association extends its heartfelt gratitude to all participants, the AGTA team, our distinguished panel of judges, and this year\u2019s award winners for their exceptional dedication, artistry and commitment to excellence,\u201d said Bruce Bridges, president of the AGTA Board of Directors and president of Bridges Tsavorite. \u201cWe are immensely proud of the extraordinary quality, innovation, and craftsmanship reflected in the winning pieces\u2014creations that exemplify the very best of our industry and will take their place among the finest examples of modern jewelry excellence.\u201d<\/p>\n
Loren\u2019s winning design, created in collaboration with Jesus Marquez and Andrea Canzanella, was a pair of 18K & 14K yellow, white, and ombr\u00e9 gradient gold earrings entitled \u201cI\u2019ll Always Be Attracted to You.\u201d The earrings featured black Tahitian pearls and golden South Sea pearls accented by marquise purple sapphires (0.80 ctw.), mixed sapphires (3.69 ctw.), and diamonds. Fashion Forward Honors recognizes the outstanding use of colored gemstone and\/or cultured pearl in artful, trend\u2010setting jewelry. All designs that qualify for judging in the AGTA Spectrum Awards competition are eligible for Fashion Forward Honors judging.<\/p>\n
\u201cEarning an award as prestigious as this \u2013 at the Oscars of the jewelry design industry \u2013 marks a monumental moment in a designer\u2019s career, and to be recognized in not one, but two categories, is an incredible honor,\u201d Mark Loren said.<\/p>\n
Since opening the doors of the award-winning Mark Loren Designs in 1985, Loren has gained international acclaim and a roster of local and national celebrity clients. He has been a guest speaker at national jewelry shows and conferences, speaking on topics such as securing and caring for your jewelry, changes in the industry and more. Loren won his first Spectrum award in 1991 and has since received it seven more times, and over the years his company has earned a total of ten awards. Loren has also served as a Spectrum Awards judge.<\/p>\n
Many of the winning pieces will be on display during the 2025 AGTA GemFair Tucson from Feb. 2 to Feb. 6, 2026. Winners will be recognized with hand-crafted awards at the AGTA Spectrum & Cutting Edge Awards Gala in Tucson on Feb. 5, 2026.<\/p>\n
About Mark Loren Designs<\/p>\n
Mark Loren Designs has won over a dozen international design awards for offering unique and rare gemstones, innovative diamond rings, exceptional engagement and wedding bands, and expert jewelry design and repair. All services are done on-site at the Fort Myers gallery, located at 13351 McGregor Blvd. in Fort Myers. From celebrities to clients who appreciate wearing exclusive jewelry designs, Mark Loren Designs assures the finest one-of-a-kind sentimental jewelry pieces for lasting enjoyment. For more information, visit MarkLorenDesigns.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"At the 41st annual 2025 American Gem Trade Association (AGTA) Spectrum & Cutting Edge Awards, Mark Loren, owner…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":7645,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[209,211,210],"class_list":["post-59187","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cape-coral","tag-cape-coral","tag-cape-coral-headlines","tag-cape-coral-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59187","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=59187"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59187\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7645"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=59187"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=59187"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=59187"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}