by Robert R. Requintina
November 25, 2013 (updated)

The 2013 Miss Earth beauty pageant has three new elemental crowns.

This was presented by international jewelry designer Fil-Am Ramona Haar during a press conference for select members of the press at the Fort in Taguig City Friday.

Haar, official jeweler of Miss Earth, showed the elemental crowns for Miss Earth Air, Miss Earth Water and Miss Earth Fire that come in red, blue and yellow. Each crown is valued at US$20,000 each or roughly P1 million, she said.

Every elemental crown or the crowns for the runner-ups, she explained, is handcrafted 100% recycled sterling silver. The braided silver wire is used to form recurring spiral motifs and decorative patterns. The entire crown is decorated with precious stones topaz, rhodolites, zirconias and citrine.

The new elemental crowns will be seen during the worldwide televised presentation of 2013 Miss Earth beauty contest in Muntinlupa City December 7. Five years ago, environmentalist Haar designed a new crown for Miss Earth. Gems for the new crown include black diamonds, sardonyx, calcite, ruby, jade, quartz crystal, garnet, peridot, and pearls which she gathered from some 80 stones given by participating countries in the environment-driven pageant.

Since then, the crown for Miss Earth winner carries different kinds of stones. Valued at US$150,000 or almost P7 million, the winner’s crown  is made of 100% recycled 14K gold and argentums sterling silver. The central design is a flower to symbolize a happy and thriving Earth.

On July 1, 2008 Lorraine Schuck, Executive Vice President of Carousel Productions, Inc., organizer of Miss Earth pageant, extended an invitation to Haar to be the official jeweler of Miss Earth 2008 and be a partner in promoting the tourism industry in the Philippines, as well as promoting environmental awareness worldwide. She was pleased to accept the invitation, aware that the title “Official Jeweler of Miss Earth 2008,” came with a responsibility. Her first task was to design four official necklaces and earring sets for each of the four winners which they will be wearing with their crown on official functions during their reign. Each of the design will symbolize the categories that each winner will represent– Miss Earth, Miss Earth-Air, Miss Earth-Water, and Miss Earth-Fire. Secondly, each of the four winners will receive a medallion necklace as part of their prizes.

Source: Manila Bulletin (3 new 2013 ‘Miss Earth’ elemental crowns bared)