Johannesburg - The Indian tradition of ornate bridal jewellery dates back thousands of years.
Gold has dominated designs in the past, but modern Indian brides are moving towards more contemporary designs in platinum. In fact, India is the world's second-largest platinum jewellery market, after China.
That's what inspired the theme of PlatAfrica 2015, the platinum jewellery design competition.
Professional and student designers were asked to create bridal jewellery to the theme.
In the professional category, the winners were:
* First - Bhekithemba Ngema, Ben & Co. Designs
* Second place - Johan Bothma, Altin Jewellers
* Third - Anne Manaczynski, Anaczynski Jewellery
The student winners were:
* First - Karin Niehaus, Jack Friedman Jewellers
* Second - Jefta Mtole, Altin Jewellers
* Third place - Karolien Pretorius, Stellenbosch University
* Fourth place - Brendan Cloete and Angelique Anderson, Tshwane University of Technology
* Winning collection - Brendan Cloete and Angelique Anderson, Tshwane University of Technology
Seven leading South African platinum designers - 'Magnificent Seven' - were also asked to create collections using up to 300g of platinum for the Indian bride of the future. The overall winner here was Chris van Rensburg from Studio C.
See all the winning entries at: www.angloplatinum.com/media/multimedia-library/platafrica.aspx
The Star