MUMBAI: When you can wear your gold jewellery to the disco, then you know it must be ethno-contemporary.

At least, that is what designer Sabyasachi Mukherjee, brand ambassador to the AngloGold Ashanti Auditions 05/06, was looking for. Finally, he and the other six judges, including Shabana Azmi and Raveena Tandon, unanimously decided that 19-year-old Mumbaikar Radhika Mahesh Jhalani's creation was just about right for the occasion.

Brilliance of the sun

Her winning piece was inspired by "the combination of the fully ripened golden Alphonso mango and the brilliance of the summer sun."

Ms. Jhalani was one of 1,500 entrants to the gold jewellery design competition conducted by AngloGold Ashanti and the World Gold Council. Her prize was a 1 kg gold bar.

The other winners: Raghunath Jana, a karigar from Kolkata, who received 250 gm of gold and Krishma S. Jain from Bangalore, who came third and won 100 gm of gold.

The audience prize, possibly the most significant, as host of the evening Rageshwari pointed out: "they are the ones who will be buying the jewellery," went to Reema Gangwal from Aurangabad.

The international competition was held in Brazil and South Africa before it made its debut in India, the largest gold market in the world. It was organised in association with D'damas and Rand Refinery Limited, the world's largest single site refinery.

Thero Setiloane of AngloGold Ashanti said that 750 tonnes of gold were retailed last year. "The Indian market is most important for us."

Sanjeev Agarwal, managing director, World Gold Council, said the idea behind the competition was to generate more design innovations, as they needed to move beyond the traditional. Jewellers played safe with design motifs and the Indian consumer did not want to move away from the traditional. However, a twist or an improvisation was always appreciated.

The pieces were judged on `wearability,' visual impact, originality and faithfulness to the ethno-contemporary theme.

The entrants hailed from various backgrounds: students, housewives, karigars and designers.

The 40 designs that were chosen were made into jewellery and modelled at the ramp show on March 24. There were performances by Shibani Kashyap, Kailash Kher and Shobana.

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