During the 26th annual AGTA Spectrum Awards™ recently held, the choice of platinum as a jewellery metal seemed to be on the rise with jewellery designers, reports say. Of the total number of 420 jewellery designs submitted for the competition this year, there was an 11 percent increase in the number of platinum designs. Also, out of the total winning designs in the competition in all categories, platinum designs accounted for 58 percent while last year they made up 32 percent of the total awards. %% The Platinum Guild International USA (PGI-USA) also hosts a platinum centric award with the AGTA Spectrum Awards as partner, known as “Platinum Honors”. The “Platinum Honors” category recognises the outstanding use of platinum in coloured gemstones or pearl jewellery. %% The competition took place on October 24-25, 2009, in New York City.