Friedrich Becker Prize 1999-2026. The Competition for Jewellery, Utensils and Objects

This anniversary publication is, of course, also devoted to this year’s competition, in which Veronika Fabian (HU) emerged as the winner with Spring ring XXXL / Clasp me firmly, hold me tight. Forty eight works in total are presented, each showcasing craftsmanship, precision, and sophistication combined with powerful creative expression.

The Friedrich Becker Prize is one of the most prestigious awards worldwide for works executed in gold and silver. The publication issued to commemorate the tenth year of the annual award presents the current competition and includes a retrospective of Becker’s work as well as the history of the award.

Since 1999 the Gesellschaft für Goldschmiedekunst e.V. has promoted the intermeshing of the contemporary jewellery and tableware scenes on an international scale via the Friedrich Becker Prize. The award commemorates the distinguished goldsmith and designer of kinetic objects Friedrich Becker (1922–1997). Endowed by his widow, Hildegard Becker (1928–2018), the distinction is awarded triennally accompanied by a dedicated publication. The book contains a celebration of the eponymous object of this fitting tribute as well as extensive documentation of the history of the award while introducing all men and women laureates to date.

The nucleus of the book is the 2026 competition. From a pool of one hundred and fifty applications, forty-eight stances are nominated – works from Europe, Asia, Australia and North America that attest impressively to the diversity and powers of artistic expression represented by contemporary jewellery, tableware and object design. Widely varying trends, attitudes and approaches enter on a dialogue with one another – selected by a high-powered jury comprised of such luminaries as Paul Derrez, goldsmith and designer in Amsterdam, Melanie Isverding, professor at the Hildesheim University of Applied Sciences and Arts, and Christianne Weber-Stober, for many years director of the Goldschmiedehaus Hanau. Veronika Fabian from Hungary has emerged as the winner of the tenth competition. Her Spring Ring XXXL necklace belongs to her Clasp Me Firmly, Hold Me Tight series (2023), serial works fashioned from enlarged jewellery clasps and hooks that are entirely made of industrial chains. They are soldered together to form ‘plate chains’ and then flattened and shaped to attain their ultimate form: ‘clasp becomes jewellery, series becomes individual piece, function becomes sign,’ was the jury’s finding and it singled out for praise the conceptual approach of the object that ‘raises questions about the norms and conventions of jewellery’ and of its ‘self-determination, value and meaning within its functional codes.’ All works selected will be shown in an exhibition mounted by the Goldschmiedehaus Hanau and presented in the tripartite illustrated section of the book, which also includes pieces by earlier laureates and works by Friedrich Becker. An extensively annotated catalogue of works as well as biographies of the artists currently exhibiting and a survey of all participants since 1999 round off the publication.

A fascinating and superbly designed review of the world’s best goldsmiths and silversmiths and their multifaceted oeuvres.

Exhibition:
Deutsches Goldschmiedehaus Hanau (DE), 9.5.–18.10. 2026.

Artists featured in the exhibition:
Winner of the Friedrich Becker Prize 2026: Veronika Fabian.

Sharareh Aghaei (DE), Miriam Arentz (DE), Nicole Beck (DE), Michael Berger (DE), Alice Biolo (GB), Heather Blake (GB), Alexander Blank (DE), Iris Bodemer (DE), Catalina Brenes (IT), Helen Britton (DE), Sigurd Bronger (NO), Sungho Cho (KR), Soo Hyun Chou (KR), Sarah Cossham (DE), Andreas Decker (DE), Arianaz Dehghan (DE), Kiesutė Deimantė (LT), Dong Ding (GB), Sam Tho Duong (DE), Veronika Fabian (HU), Benedikt Fischer und Rudy De Gruyl (NL), Yael Friedman (IL), Corrina Goutos (DE), Benedict Haener (CH), Juan Harnie (BE), Mirjam Hiller (DE), Koichi Io (JP), Mari Ishikawa (DE), Svenja John (DE), Empar Juanes (ES), Nikita Kavryzhkin (DE), Mira Kim (CA), Maria Konschake (BE), Andrew Lamb (GB), Xin Liu (CN), Christine Matthias (DE), Gina Nadine Müller (DE), Tim Neumann (DE), Sonia Pibernat (ES), Sarah Pulvertaft (GB), Jenny Scheidegger (CH), Karin Seufert (DE), Martina Tornow (DE), Tim Udvardi-Lakos (DE), Lingjie Wang (CN), Nana Watanabe (JP), Guja Youssefi (DE) and Yuzhe Zhang (CN).