Press Release
Bronze A' Design Award in Jewelry Design Goes to Aqua Continuum Jewellery Set by Anurag Sapkota
The international grand jury of the 2025 - 2026 A' Design Award & Competition recognizes Anurag Sapkota for jewelry design
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
COMO, Italy, April 23, 2026 /DesignNewswire/ A' Design Award & Competition has confirmed the Bronze A' Design Award in the Jewelry Design category for Aqua Continuum Jewellery Set by Anurag Sapkota, designed for Elysign Digital LLP. The award was conferred within the 2025 - 2026 A' Design Award & Competition and was reached through blind peer review by an international grand jury panel of established academics, design professionals and press members, who assessed anonymized entries against predetermined criteria.
About the Bronze A' Design Award
The Bronze A' Design Award is given to outstanding designs that showcase a high degree of creativity and practicality. It recognizes the dedication and skill of designers who produce work that stands out for its thoughtful development and innovative use of materials and technology. These designs are acknowledged for their professional execution and potential to influence industry standards positively. Winning this award highlights the designer's ability to blend form and function effectively, offering solutions that enhance people's lives and wellbeing.
About Aqua Continuum Jewellery Set
Aqua Continuum is a jewellery set consisting of a pendant, a pair of earrings, and a ring, developed using fluid, doubly curved and folded surfaces to explore continuity and controlled movement in three-dimensional geometry. An emerald-cut blue topaz has been used in each piece. The stone was chosen for its blue tone and its visual association with water. The supporting gemstones vary in size and were arranged using circle-packing principles. This arrangement generates a parametric pattern that produces a gradual field of density and visual balance across the surfaces of the jewellery.
About Anurag Sapkota
Anurag Sapkota is an architect-turned jewellery designer based in Sikkim, India, and the founder and creative lead of AQCI Jewellery, a design-driven contemporary jewellery brand. With over a decade of experience across spatial design, digital modelling and fine object creation, his practice focuses on translating design principles such as continuity, balance and controlled variation into wearable form. His work combines research-based design thinking with production-aware craftsmanship to develop coherent jewellery collections that explore form, movement and material sensitivity.
Award Record
Anurag Sapkota is a winner of 1 A' Design Award, including this recognition.
About the A' Jewelry Design Award
The A' Jewelry Design Award is an international jewelry design competition recognizing good jewelry designs by best jewelry designers worldwide. The competition is organized within the A' Design Award & Competition and is open to jewelry designers, jewelry brands, jewelers and goldsmiths from all countries. Entries typically include rings, necklaces, bracelets, earrings, brooches and pendants. Awarded jewelry designs are published at https://designers.org/design-category/jewelry
About A' Design Award & Competition
A' Design Award & Competition is an international, juried design accolade organized annually since 2008. The competition is open to entries from all countries. The A' Design Award has a philanthropic mission to advance society through good design by recognizing and promoting superior products, projects and services that benefit society, and by creating a global awareness and appreciation for good design practices and principles. Entries are peer reviewed and anonymously evaluated by an international grand jury panel of established academics, design professionals and press members against predetermined criteria such as functionality, ergonomics, engineering, presentation, innovation, usability, sustainability and technology, with score normalization applied to remove biases. Awards are conferred at Platinum, Gold, Silver, Bronze and Iron levels. The A' Design Prize granted to eligible laureates includes the award trophy, the certificate of design excellence, the hardcover yearbook, a lifetime license to use the A' Design Award winner logo, exhibition of awarded works, an invitation to the gala night and award ceremony in Italy, inclusion in the World Design Rankings and Designer Rankings, and public relations and publicity services. Registration, the upload of a work and the preliminary score are free of charge, and Professional and Digital Edition laureates are not contractually obliged to pay further fees to claim the A' Design Prize. Further information is available at https://competition.adesignaward.com
Press Resources
- Winner Page: https://designers.org/180109
- A' Design Award Page: https://competition.adesignaward.com/180109
- Media Showcase: https://www.designnewsroom.com/!180109
- Laureate Profile: https://designers.org/d/340448
Media Contact
Giulia Ferrari, Press Office
Designers.Org
Via Leone Leoni 32, 22100 Como, Italy
press@designers.org
+39 031 4491953
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Fact Sheet
The Work
- Project
- Aqua Continuum Jewellery Set
- Function
- Jewellery Set
- Category
- Jewelry Design
- Discipline
- Fashion Design
- Industry
- Luxury and Fashion
- Colors
- Dark Gray, Silver, Light Slate Gray, Sky Blue and Cornflower Blue
- Images
- 5
- Client
- Elysign Digital LLP
The Recognition
- Laureate
- Anurag Sapkota
- Country
- India
- Recognition
- Bronze A' Design Award
- Edition
- 2025 - 2026
- Design ID
- #180109
Design Details
- Unique Properties
- Aqua Continuum is a jewellery set composed of a pendant, earrings and a ring, developed through fluid, doubly curved and seamlessly folded forms to express continuity and movement. Emerald-cut blue topaz is used to evoke the visual coolness and calm of water. Supporting gemstones vary significantly in size and are organized using circle-packing principles, creating an organic field of density and rhythm.
- Inspiration
- The project is inspired by the natural behavior of water and by design theories that describe form as a continuous and evolving system rather than a fixed composition. The primary motivation was to translate fluid motion, surface continuity and spatial balance into wearable objects using doubly curved geometry and folding logic. Research into visual perception of color and spatial distribution guided the use of blue topaz for its cooling sensory effect and circle packing principles.
- Research
- This project is based on practice-led design research focused on translating the visual and sensory qualities of water into wearable jewellery. The study explored how doubly curved surfaces, seamless folding and controlled variation in gemstone size can communicate fluid movement and visual calm. Iterative digital modelling and parametric distribution tools were used to generate and evaluate multiple ring, pendant and earring prototypes. Circle-packing logic was applied to organise gemstones as a continuous spatial field rather than decorative placement. The results demonstrate improved visual rhythm, surface continuity and perceived lightness of form.
- Challenge
- The main challenge was translating the softness and continuity of fluid motion into stable, wearable jewellery without losing structural integrity or comfort. Balancing expressive doubly curved surfaces with real stone-setting constraints, minimum metal thickness and casting limitations required multiple design iterations. Another difficulty was achieving visually natural gemstone clustering while maintaining secure settings and clear assembly logic. Limited references for computational gemstone distribution in contemporary jewellery and the need to align advanced digital modelling with existing manufacturing processes further increased the complexity of development and validation.
- Realization and Technology
- The designs were developed using advanced surface modelling and parametric workflows to generate continuous doubly curved geometry and controlled folding. Circle-packing algorithms were applied to define gemstone positions and size variation. Final forms were refined for manufacturability with precise stone-setting tolerances and structural thickness control. The pieces are intended for production in precious metal alloys using high-resolution resin 3D printing for master patterns, followed by investment casting, precision pre-polishing and micro-pavé and prong setting for the blue topaz and supporting gemstones.
- Operation and Interaction
- The jewellery is worn and experienced through gentle movement and changing viewpoints. The pendant and earrings allow the gemstone to move freely, creating soft motion with the wearer’s natural gestures, while the ring holds the stone within a continuous flowing form. As the pieces move and catch light, the surfaces reveal different curves and reflections, enhancing the feeling of fluidity. The varied gemstone sizes create a natural visual rhythm that feels balanced from every angle. This interaction produces a calmer, more immersive visual experience than static or highly symmetrical jewellery designs.
- Project Duration and Location
- The work for the project began in October 2025 and was finished in January of 2026 at Gangtok, Sikkim, India.
- Specifications
- Jewellery set consisting of a ring od size US 6, the Earrings are 44mm in length and the Pendant is 50mm in length
- Keywords
- Jewellery, Earrings, Pendant, Ring
