Kouzoupis Jewellery’s Tanzanite Ring
Majestic Blues
A lifelong student of precision and proportion, Kouzoupis approaches every design as a chance to reveal the hidden harmony within a gemstone.
By Tina Snyder
(Originally Published by MJSA January, 2026)
Antonis Kouzoupis
Kouzoupis Jewellery
Athens, Greece
Having admired the winning designs in the Jose Hess Design Awards competition since its inception in 2023, Antonis Kouzoupis of Kouzoupis Jewellery in Athens, Greece, decided to throw his hat into the ring this year. Intrigued by the theme “Radiance,” Kouzoupis and his team of jewelers didn’t have to look far to find inspiration for the project.
“In Greece, nothing is more radiant than the unique colors of our seas,” says Kouzoupis, a third-generation jeweler at his family’s workshop—one of the oldest operating jewelry studios in Greece, established in 1947. “The colors and beauty of the Aegean and Ionian Seas are acclaimed worldwide, and we could not ask for more inspiration than their unique blue and indigo hues.”
What better way to capture that majestic blue brilliance than with a 22.4 carat, AAA-quality emerald-cut tanzanite.
“A jewel must be perfect from every side, even on the hidden parts beneath.” — Antonis Kouzoupis
“Having such a unique central stone led us to many designs, but only one could really encompass and further enhance the Tanzanite’s radiance,” Kouzoupis explains. “By designing an 18k white gold ring adorned with 250 round and princess-cut diamonds, we crafted a design that would further radiate the gemstone’s brilliance from every side.”
Four prongs appear to snake up the corners of the shank to hold the center stone. They contrast with the geometric setting and the tanzanite’s sharp edges, serving aesthetic and structural purposes. Below, a diamond-covered bridge creates a perfect perch, protecting the tanzanite while also projecting brilliant rays in every direction.
“A jewel must be perfect from every side, even on the hidden parts beneath,” says Kouzoupis. “Just as the princess-cut diamonds on the top of the ring halo the tanzanite, so too must the structural pieces beneath echo that harmony.”
The ring was designed in Matrix Gold and cast in three parts: the main setting for the tanzanite, the diamond-encrusted bridge beneath the center stone, and the four-pronged shank. This allowed each element to be carefully polished on every surface to achieve the brilliance required for a “radiant” design.
“The components were assembled using a combination of laser welding and soldering,” says Kouzoupis. “A great deal of precision, time, and effort were required so that all the pieces were designed, manufactured, and aligned to perfectly fit together. It took a lot of hard work and many hours on the design table and in the workshop, but the resulting award-winning piece validated our efforts.”
Ring Callouts
The ring was engineered in three separate components—the pronged shank, the diamond-set bridge, and the main tanzanite setting—to allow every surface to be polished to full brilliance.
A diamond-covered bridge beneath the emerald-cut tanzanite provides structural support while projecting light upward through the stone
from all angles.
Four bulbous prongs rise from the shank and wrap toward the tanzanite, creating a fluid contrast to the stone’s sharp geometry.