A Tough Call & A Well-Deserved Win for Annie Fensterstock!

Earlier this month, I had the incredible honor of traveling to New York City to judge the Misfit Diamonds × Melee design competition (you can learn more about it by watching our Instagram reell).

I knew it would be fun - I mean, put me in a room with incredible jewelry and talented designers and I’m happy! What I didn’t fully appreciate beforehand was just how hard it would be to actually choose a winner.

I look at jewelry all day long. I buy it, sell it, wear it, photograph it, talk about it, and (let’s just be honest) probably spend a slightly unhinged amount of time thinking about it. I know what I like, and I’m usually pretty decisive.

But judging jewelry? That’s a whole different sport.

Each designer started with a Misfit diamond — a stone chosen for its individuality rather than its conformity — and was asked to build something around it. Anything. No guidelines or restrictions. We judged the finished pieces on use of the diamond, craftsmanship and execution, and originality.

Simple enough on paper. Not simple in real life.

Adel Chefridi came in strong with a beautifully classic Adel design. I loved how his signature lotus framing made the diamond feel intentional, elegant, and very “this is exactly where you’re supposed to be.”

Ananda Khalsa went in the opposite direction in the best way, quiet, restrained, and so thoughtful. Her wide gold band let the warmth and personality of the diamond do all the talking. Nothing extra. Nothing competing. It didn’t need it.

Then there was Manuk’s Workshop, whose ring I very professionally described in my notes as: sexy. And honestly, still accurate. It was simple, modern, incredibly elevated, and had that kind of restraint that makes you lean in a little closer.

Erin Cuff’s engraving was next level. I had spoken with Erin about how she’s been pushing herself creatively lately, and this piece felt like a big, confident “yes, this is working.” You could feel the momentum in it.

Susannah King basically built a whole universe. Her concept of the Misfit diamond as the sun in a solar system was imaginative, unexpected, and so well executed it somehow still felt grounded.

Ellis Mhairi Cameron’s piece was one of those that rewards patience. At first glance it’s beautiful. At second glance it gets interesting. At third glance you’re like, “oh wow, there’s a whole conversation happening here.”

Todd Pownell flipped the script, literally, by inverting his diamond and working it into his “crystallized liquid” concept. It felt like a celebration. Playful, smart, and completely its own thing.

And then there was Vale Jewelry, who paired two diamonds together so beautifully that for me, the relationship between them became the entire story. I even wrote in my notes: “This might actually be the one I’d wear myself.” Which, in judging terms, is both very dangerous and very honest.

Which brings me to something I didn’t fully expect going into this: just because you’d wear something doesn’t mean it should win.

That was probably the most interesting mental shift of the whole experience.

I had to constantly separate “Do I want this?” from “What did this designer actually do here?”. I had to step outside my own taste and really look at intention, execution, storytelling, and whether the piece felt like a true extension of the designer’s voice.

There were pieces I wanted. Pieces that made me smile. Pieces I kept going back to just to study the craftsmanship. Pieces where the idea stuck with me more than anything else.

And then there was Annie Fensterstock.

Annie’s piece stopped everyone in their tracks!

It didn’t feel like something made for a competition, it felt like an artifact.

There was this immediate sense of scale and presence, gold, color, detail, weight, all working together in a way that felt almost regal. I remember thinking it felt like something I should be seeing behind glass at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. Like it already had a history I just hadn’t been told yet.

But the wild part? It also didn’t feel old...That’s what made it so good!

It was contemporary, but it carried the emotional weight of something ancient. The Misfit diamond sat right at the center of this incredibly rich, layered world she built around it, and somehow, even with everything going on, it never got lost.

It belonged there.

My very first note on it was simply “This piece stopped me in my tracks.”

And after hours of looking, comparing, scoring, and second-guessing myself, that feeling never changed.

Annie Fensterstock went on to win the Misfit Diamonds × Melee design competition, and it was so well deserved.

Being invited to judge was an incredible honor. Also, way harder than I expected in the best possible way. I left thinking not just about the pieces, but about what actually makes great jewelry great. Sometimes it’s restraint. Sometimes it’s craftsmanship. Sometimes it’s a wild idea you’ve never seen before. And sometimes it’s just that gut-level reaction of “I can’t stop looking at this.”

And every once in a while, you see something that feels like it already has a life behind it, even before you’ve met it.

Congratulations, Annie! Truly, an extraordinary piece.

And thank you to Misfit Diamonds, Melee, and every designer who trusted us to look closely, think hard, and make one very difficult call.

Read on to see my notes below!