"Liquid Sapphire" is the 2009 prize-winning design by Germany's Bruno Everling.
Beating out eight other finalists from Brazil, Germany, Italy, Norway, Poland, Singapore, Sweden, Switzerland, and Thailand, a product design student at the Schwäbisch Gmünd school of design near Stuttgart, was awarded the £ 5,000 prize for his entry in the annual Bombay Sapphire Designer Glass Prize, which he called ‘Liquid Sapphire.’ The prizewinner was announced during the 2009 London Design Festival, which ends later today.
“My glass design is inspired by the blue BOMBAY SAPPHIRE bottle: a symbol of timeless elegance and a fusion of tradition and modernity,” says Bruno Everling. “I wanted to express this with the creation of ‘Liquid Sapphire’, by designing a very pure and simple exterior, combined with a geometrical and elaborate interior, similar to the facets of a sapphire. These facets fragment the light, making the liquid inside the glass shine like a brilliant sapphire. The glass also cites the iconic form of a classic martini glass.”
Bruno Everling with his 2009 Bombay Sapphire Designer Glass prize-winning entry.
The judges, including noted industrial designer Yves Behar, released a statement about the winning design that praised it for being “a very beautiful, sophisticated glass” with “the potential to be a design classic.” Hidden inside the faceted exterior of the glass is the classic, sharply inclining martini shape of the interior, a subtle but refined touch that won the judges favor.
Along with Yves Béhar, the judging panel included: Wallpaper* editor-at-large, Suzanne Trocmé; glass designer, Simon Moore; designer, Moritz Waldemeyer; Jeremy Langmead, editor, Esquire (UK); and cocktail expert and global ambassador for Bombay Sapphire, Merlin Griffiths.
Get the latest updates about the Bombay Sapphire Designer Glass competition on their Facebook page.
Watch a video about the awards presentation:
Bombay Sapphire Designer Glass Competition 2009 from Takashi Yamada on Vimeo.
