Necklace

The necklace is an award in the International Saimoe League, first created to make each period "more interesting". Each necklace winner also receives a poster dedicated to the character, which is made by the ISML staff.

While the necklace has zero effect in a contestant's standings, some fans consider it a good title for a character to have. Furthermore, it is commonly used as an indicator of a girl's popularity, and hence, a sign of good performance in the tournament. This correlation is further supported by the fact that most necklace winners advance to the postseason (with very few exceptions). However, a girl does not need to win a necklace in order to win the tournament itself; even the very first winner of ISML has no necklaces to her name.

In ISML's early years, a girl can win multiple necklaces in a single year. Starting from 2011 however, a girl who has won a necklace round are banned from further necklace rounds of that year. Besides the main necklace awards, there are also consolation gems awarded to girls who didn't qualify, which go by other names, such as "Earrings". This practice has been discontinued for 2015 to 2019, and is making a combeack in 2020 where consolation gems will also be awarded to males for the first time.

From ISML 2017 onwards, all necklace winners will be granted automatic qualification on next year's Main Tournament, provided they don't win the entire tournament (Heavenly Tiara) beforehand.

Overview
The necklaces are each named after gems, each gem corresponding to a period in the Regular Season. The gem order is as follows:
 * Aquamarine - Topaz - Amethyst - Sapphire - Emerald - Ruby - Diamond.

However, the order is reshuffled in the Nova / Stella era, where the regular periods are reduced to five. Further complicating the situation is the introduction of the Circlets, gems which are awarded to the winner of each division's postseason bracket (which is different from the Tiara Finals bracket).
 * Regular season:  Aquamarine - Amethyst - Ruby - Emerald - Topaz 
 * Sapphire Circlet for Nova Division Winner, and Diamond Circlet for Stella Division Winner.

Note that while Sapphire and Diamond function exactly the same as necklaces (with matching posters), they are re-named as "Circlets" because of the multiple necklace-ban rule, and thus, are not counted in a girl's Necklace Count in the official ISML records. However, this wiki will include them in for recording purposes as they are essentially necklaces with a different name, and are part of the seven main gems of the Nova/Stella era.

Necklace table
''2008-2010 necklaces are NOT counted in appearances due to its different awarding method. Nova and Stella Circlets (Sapphire & Diamond) from 2012-2015 are counted in necklace appearances and wins.''

Statistics correct as of ISML 2022 (January 12).

Zero wins + 2 Appearances
While winning a Necklace is a strong indicator of a potential Tiara winner, there are quite a few exceptions to this correlation: girls who won the entire tournament without winning any award beforehand include Fate Testarossa (2008), Kotori Itsuka (2014) and Eru Chitanda (2015).
 * Aquamarine necklace winners commonly tend to win the Heavenly Tiara in the same year, presumably because the candidate is so popular, the voters are willing to let her win at the first possible Necklace round. The years in which Aquamarine winners won the entire tournament happened in 2010, 2011, 2012, 2018, and 2019.
 * There are three instances where a necklace winner failed to advance into the playoffs in the same year they won the award: Setsuna Sakurazaki from Negima (Topaz 2008), Saber (2017 Ruby), and Azusa Nakano (Emerald 2018).

ISML 2008
Method: Each period had 9 rounds, at the end of each period, the contestant with 9 wins and the highest VD would be awarded with the necklace. There was no limit on how many necklace each contestant was allowed to obtain.

Aquamarine


Necklace Winner: Shana 

Topaz


Necklace Winner: Sakurazaki Setsuna 

Amethyst
Necklace Winner: Hiiragi Kagami 

Sapphire
Necklace Winner: Fujibayashi Kyou 

Emerald
Necklace Winner: Hiiragi Kagami 

Ruby
Necklace Winner: Suzumiya Haruhi 

Diamond


Necklace Winner: Suzumiya Haruhi 

ISML 2009
Method: Each period had 9 rounds, at the end of each period, the necklace would be given to the contestant who held the highest SDO with 9 wins. There was no limit on how many necklace a contestant could get.

Aquamarine
Necklace Winner: Sakagami Tomoyo 

Topaz
Necklace Winner: Nagato Yuki 

Amethyst
Necklace Winner: Suigintou 

Sapphire


Necklace Winner: Shana

Emerald
Necklace Winner: Suiseiseki 

Ruby
Necklace Winner: Katsura Hinagiku 

Diamond
Necklace Winner: Shinku 

ISML 2010
Method: Each period had 7 rounds, at the end of each period, the contestant who held the highest SDO with 7 wins would be awarded the necklace. There was no limit on how many necklace each contestant was allowed to obtain.

Aquamarine
Necklace Winner: Akiyama Mio 

Topaz
Necklace Winner: Aisaka Taiga 

Amethyst
Necklace Winner: Nagato Yuki 

Sapphire
Necklace Winner: Shana 

Emerald
Necklace Winner: Shana 

Ruby
Necklace Winner: Misaka Mikoto 

Diamond
Necklace Winner: Shana 

ISML 2011
Format: Each period had 8 rounds, 7 rounds of normal matches and the last round for necklace match. The top 7 contestants at the end of the 7 rounds were eligible to enter the necklace match. The contestant with the highest final necklace match score would obtain the necklace. Necklace Macth Percentage x SDO = Final Necklace Score

Gallery:

Necklace rounds

ISML 2012
Format: This year contestants were split into two groups, Nova and Stella. Each period had 8 rounds, 7 rounds of regular matches and 1 round of Necklace Match. Top 3 Nova and 3 Stella and 1 wildcard from either two groups would be entering the necklace match. The contestant with the highest Final Necklace Match Score would be awarded the necklace. The number of necklaces were cut down from 7 to 5, where Sapphire and Diamond became Circlet awarded to the top Nova and Stella from the Post Season Phase 1 Single Elimination Match. The losers from the matches were now awarded partial points instead of nothing at all.

SDO / 3 + Necklace Match Percentage = Final Necklace Score

Gallery:

Neckklace rounds:

Sapphire circlet

Diamond circlet

ISML 2013
No changes made in the necklace rounds.

Aquamarine


Necklace Winner: Tachibana Kanade

Amethyst


Necklace Winner: Gokou Ruri (Kuroneko) 

Ruby


Necklace Winner: Yūki Asuna

Emerald
Necklace Winner: Takanashi Rikka 

Topaz
Necklace Winner: Shiina Mashiro

Sapphire


Circlet Winner: Shiina Mashiro

Diamond


Circlet Winner: Tachibana Kanade

ISML 2014
Change in format (Circlets) While the format used to determine the regular season necklaces remains the same, the format of Postseason Phase 1 has changed from a single-elimination bracket to a 16-player Swiss-system. The Circlet award will be given to each girl who wins all of her games in her respective division.

Gallery

Regular season necklaces






Necklace Winner: Misaka Mikoto

Necklace Winner: Tachibana Kanade



Necklace Winner: Kuroyukihime



Necklace Winner: Yūki Asuna



Necklace Winner: Shiina Mashiro

ISML 2015
Change in format (Scoring) The Necklace score calculation formula is changed yet again, from SDO + 220 x Vote percentage = Final score

SDO: Combined points of your defeated opponents

the formula used this year will be:

(PSAO / 3) + Vote percentage = Final score. PSAO: Point-weighted combined points of all opponents


 * Voters are allowed to choose two contestants instead of one from each group in the necklace rounds.

Gallery

Regular season necklaces


ISML 2016
Gem Periods:
 * The Stella and Nova divisions have been merged, therefore, the gem order is restored to its original order again.
 * Number of Players:
 * Round of 128: Aquamarine - Sapphire
 * Round of 64: Emerald & Ruby
 * Round of 32: Diamond
 * Each period is limited to 8 groups each for male and female. As a result, a contestant WILL NOT be in contention for all necklaces; she will only have a maximum of three (3) chances to win one, if she performs well enough to qualify for it.

Format:
 * ISML 2016 uses the First-past-the-post Voting format, wherein voters may choose one and only one contestant from a group. The contestant with the most votes is the winner.

Gallery

Necklace rounds

ISML 2017
Format: Starting from 2017 onwards, all Necklace rounds will use the Instant Runoff Voting (IRV) format.

Gallery

Necklace rounds

ISML 2018
No changes made in the necklace rounds.

Gallery

Necklace rounds

ISML 2019
No changes made in the necklace rounds.

Gallery

Necklace rounds

ISML 2020
Same format as the last three years.

Gallery

Results

Jewelry exhibitions
Besides the main necklace awards, ISML has organized a secondary gem award officially titled "Jewelry Exhibitions". These awards are held alongside the main gem rounds under the Exhibition title. Because of this, the awards have no effect on a contestant's season standings or future qualifications.

The jewelries, named after different accesories, were awarded to females from 2011 until 2014. After a 5-year hiatus, they return in 2020, with the awards being also given to male contestants for the first time.

ISML 2011
Qualifications: ???

Format: First-past-the-post voting: Select only one contestant out of a group of 8 members. The contestant with the highest votes is the winner.

Gallery

Gem rounds:

ISML 2012
Gallery

Gem rounds:

ISML 2013
Gallery

Gem rounds:

ISML 2014
Gallery

Gem rounds: