Ever the mentors and proponents of design with a capital D, Swarovskiand LA’s Mass Beverly showroom initiated the Brilliance of Design competition. The charge was to push the potential of crystals in three categories: lighting, home décor, and architectural surfaces. Talk about global entries. The 56 submissions came from the UK, the Netherlands, Germany, Italy, France, Sweden, Greece, Israel, Brazil, Colombia, and Poland, as well as from New York and Los Angeles, closer to home.

Josha Roymans, with a multi-disciplinary studio in Amsterdam, won the lighting award with his proposal for Aurora Borealis, inspired by the so-named northern lights. The design is a wave-like pendant of translucent glass and crystals capped by a strip of LEDs that allow for color changes.

In home décor, German product designer Tilman Bartl won for his vase of stacking crystal components. Cited for its flexibility and strongly contemporary approach, the product has another plus. According to Mass Beverly founders Mary Ta and Lars Hypko, it is predicted to be eminently sellable.

A Parsons School of Design student, Bahata Saha, took the award for her architectural surface—panels based on two layers of white translucent marble sandwiching crystals arrayed in organic compositions simulating abstract veining.

Each winning designer will receive a $5,000 grant for future crystal projects. Collaborating with Nadja Swarovski, who oversees the company’s corporate branding and communications, the judges were Yves Behar, founder of San Francisco-based Fuseproject; Mary Ta and Lars Hypko; and Interior Design’s deputy editor Edie Cohen.