Mandarinfish Pendant by Mohammad Amin Moradi is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2025 A' Design Award in Jewelry Design Competition Category.
IronJewelry· 2025
Mandarinfish Pendant
Client: Delmor
A' Design Award Winner in Jewelry Category
Verified Award Winner
Verify Award Status for #169386The Design
About Mandarinfish Pendant
Mandarinfish is a unisex pendant made of 18k gold. The design is inspired by the mandarin fish, a species admired in several cultures as a symbol of harmony, happiness and lasting bonds. Sapphires, emeralds and diamonds in different colors and shades recreate the bright patterns of the fish body. Curved fins and an arching tail suggest fluid motion. The piece is modeled in three dimensions, then printed, cast, polished and plated, and the many small stones are placed by micro-setting. Mandarinfish can also be worn as a brooch.
The Recognition
About the A' Design Award
Mandarinfish Pendant is an Iron A' Design Award winner, a prestigious recognition granted to good designs that meet the professional and industrial requirements expected from well-designed creations. Iron winners demonstrate great skill, high specialization, expert understanding, and creative capacity of their creators. Mandarinfish Pendant is expected to be a highly regarded, admired, and cherished creation that is practical and innovative. This Iron A' Design Award-winning design integrates industry best practices and has competent technical characteristics linked with know-how and talent. Mandarinfish Pendant is respected for its thoroughness and is designed to provide quality of life improvements that help make the world a better place.
Where to Get It
Custom Jewelry Design Services
We create meaningful jewelry designs that tell your unique story. Our expertise in CAD modeling, hand sketching, and 3D rendering transforms your ideas into exquisite pieces. From concept to final design, we blend artistry with technical precision, crafting jewelry that captures emotion and symbolism.
Discuss Your ProjectInterviews
Design Interview
What is the main principle, idea and inspiration behind your design?
Mandarin fish is a unique member of dragonet which is known for it's colorful and specific colors. The pattern of each fish, red, blue, yellow and green are unique and are as specific as a finger print for a human. I found them so fascinating and I tried to show their beauty by designing them.
What has been your main focus in designing this work? Especially what did you want to achieve?
My main focus was on the Gem stones colors so they could the possible colorful pattern of a Mandarin fish body.
How long did it take you to design this particular concept?
CAD designing and rendering took me about a week
Grand Interview
Your innovative use of sapphires, emeralds, and diamonds in the Mandarinfish Pendant beautifully captures the vibrant essence of the mandarin fish - could you share the creative journey behind selecting these specific gemstones and their symbolic significance?
The mandarinfish is renowned for its stunning array of colors and its symbolic connections to marital bliss, joy, togetherness, and lasting relationships. To capture the biological traits of this scaleless species, a refined selection of precious and semi-precious stones—such as sapphires in various cuts (brilliant and marquise), emeralds, and diamonds—has been used to mimic its vivid natural hues, which in the wild function as a warning signal to predators rather than a mating display.
The Mandarinfish Pendant's unique ability to transform from a pendant to a brooch showcases remarkable versatility - what inspired you to incorporate this dual functionality, and how does it enhance the wearer's experience?
This design can amplify the trend of multifunctional jewelry, and when this idea tempts the designer, it naturally holds appeal for the consumer to benefit from it in accordance with the environment they’re in. On the other hand, depending on the wearer’s clothing style, this capability can eliminate certain limitations, be redefined, and also express the unisex nature of this jewelry piece.
Your research into mandarin fish characteristics has clearly influenced the Mandarinfish Pendant's fluid curves and graceful arching tail - could you elaborate on how your study of these fascinating creatures shaped the final design elements?
Given that this design is inspired by nature and intended to make a precise, modern reference to the body details and anatomy of the fish, studies were conducted on various species and diverse appearances of this fish, as well as its movement in water, to accurately highlight the inherent beauties of the fish and depict its motion in the best possible way within a static object. Additionally, these studies played a significant role in selecting the colors, types, and shapes of the gemstones.
Behind the Design
Press Kit
Credits, team members and technical details provided by the designer.
- Unique Properties
- This 18k gold pendant is designed to capture the essence of the mandarin fish's radiant hues, Using different shades and different colors of Sapphire, Emerald and Diamond as gemstones symbolize vitality, beauty, and good fortune, making the pendant not only an exquisite adornment but also a talisman of positive energy. Designing it's curved fins and a gracefully arching tail, is to show the fluid motion and grace of this fish. Due to the large number of gemstones Micro-setting can be hard.
- Dimensions & Packaging
- (W) 45.10mm X (L)27.53mm X (H) 11.54mm Weight : 9.320g Gemstones : sapphire- Brilliant Cut - 1.2 X 1.2 mm sapphire- Brilliant Cut - 1 X 1 mm sapphire- Marquiz Cut - 2.5 X 1.5mm Diamond - Brilliant Cut - 1.2 X 1.2 mm Emerald - Brilliant Cut - 1.2 X 1.2 mm
- Tags
- Mandarin, pendant, fish
- Production Technology
- This design is 3D modeled in MatrixGold software after hand sketching. As 18k Gold has been considered as the material, For the production, 3D printing, casting, polishing, and simple electroplating are required. selective Silver electroplating is optional.
- Design Challenge
- Considering the rich colors of the mandarin fish, designing the patterns of the body using different shades of colors was one of the challenges of the project.
- Research
- In this design, the features and unique characters of mandarin fish have been researched, and the Delphi method was employed. These investigations led to the refinement of the ideation process.
- Inspiration
- This unisex pendant is inspired by the stunning Mandarinfish, a species renowned for its strikingly colorful and intricate appearance. This fish is often revered in various cultures for it's symbolism of marital harmony and happiness, as it is known to swim in pairs, representing unity and lasting bonds. A fascinating fact about them is that they don't have scales, Also, their bright coloration is not for attracting a mate, but It is to mislead predators into believing that they may be toxic.
- Project Duration
- The project started in January 2025 in Tehran, Iran and finished in January 2025 in Tehran, Iran.
- Operation Flow
- This piece is designed as a pendant but it can easily transform into a brooch.
To be used as a pendant, the suggestion weight of the chain is at least 1.5gr. - Image Credits
- video music: Hillsong UNITED, oceans, 2013
Sponsored
Explore Beyond Designers.org
Discover products, services and opportunities from our advertising partners.
More to Explore
Related Designs
Explore more award-winning designs from the same category, selected by merit.
