Jewelry Designer Christine Cooper Hill reviews student work for Diamond Cellar competition.

Alumna Christine Cooper Hill (CCAD ’87) and Columbus-based jewelry-giant Diamond Cellar are partnering together to offer CCAD students the opportunity to have one of their designs sold by the company.

The 14 students in Kelly Malec-Kosak’s jewelry design course were given one week to sketch their designs before they were reviewed on Nov. 23 by Cooper Hill.

“Because she’s an alumna, she’s able to be critical but kind, which means the students had an easier time asking her questions,” said Malec-Kosak.

As a jewelry designer for Diamond Cellar and Christine Cooper Hill Jewelry, Cooper Hill offered advice and suggestions to the students. They now have the opportunity to make changes to their design before the final jury by Diamond Cellar’s visiting artists.

The jury will select one winning design. The student with the winning design will receive $1,000 to produce the piece, which will be promoted in the company’s stores December 2011.

Cooper Hill has been designing and handcrafting fine jewelry for more than 22 years, launching her own company  in 2007. She is a two-time award winner in The Ohio Jewelers Association Design Competition.

The Diamond Cellar is one of the largest independent jewelry stores in the United States and represents some of the world’s finest brands, including award-winning designers David Yurman and Stephen Webster.

The Diamond Cellar recently brought both Yurman and Webster to CCAD’s campus, where they offered career advice to students and critiqued their designs. Read more about Yurman’s visit in IMAGE magazine, and Webster’s on CCAD’s News Blog.

Check back with the CCAD News Blog in December to find out who won the competition.

A majority of the rings were created during the first week of spring semester when the students were given the project “One Ring a Day” for one week. To see the students’ rings click here.

A blog with a link to auction items available on eBay can be viewed here.

CCAD students, in coordination with Student Affairs, organized a sale of donated art and clothing, all of which was priced under $6. Open to the public, the Feb. 27th event benefitted the American Red Cross to help people in Haiti. Entertainment was provided by Dean Ed Lathy’s band Just Jazz.