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OKIU
THE FIRST

red dot for Zwiesel

Expert jury awards Zwiesel Kristallglas AG’s Zwiesel 1872 brand the coveted international design quality mark for two of its products - for "OKIU", its exquisite collection of bowls offering stunning simplicity in elegance, and for its outstanding sommelier collection “THE FIRST by Enrico Bernardo”.

Since 1955 the Design Zentrum Nordrhein Westfalen has been recognising outstanding international design through its famous red dot quality award. With over 2,000 applications from 41 countries, the red dot design award is one of the largest and most prestigious design competitions. The coveted prize is awarded in three different categories: product design, communication design and concept design. In each and every category, the prized red dot is only awarded to enterprises offering the very best in design and business acumen.

The judges for the “red dot award: product design” competition, which was being held for the 51st time, were captivated by Zwiesel 1872’s two collections OKIU and THE FIRST by Enrico Bernardo and awarded the famous handcrafted glass brand the quality prize in recognition of its products’ creativity, innovative excellence and superlative quality.

Zwiesel 1872 symbolises timeless design combined with over 130 years of handcraft expertise. The red dot was awarded to OKIU, an intricately crafted crystal glass accessory collection of different-sized almond-shaped bowls with opal-white interior to create harmonious accents for any living space.

In singling out THE FIRST, the red dot award jury recognised the beauty of Zwiesel 1872’s mouthblown wineglass collection where the exacting professional demands of current world champion sommelier Enrico Bernardo are fused with the exquisite craft skills of the world’s most expert glassblowers from Zwiesel to create an 18-glass collection of sommelier stems offering a unique sensory, optical and tactile experience.

The awards ceremony will be held on 26 June 2006 in the stylish surroundings of the Aalto Theatre in Essen. Before the ceremony, the red dot museum’s “Design on stage – winners red dot award: product design 2006” exhibition will be inaugurated, where the winning designs will be on show to interested members of the public. Once the awards have been presented to OKIU and THE FIRST by Enrico Bernardo and the other winners, the festivities will draw to a conclusion with the Designers’ Night in the red dot museum.