The Bright New Gems award winners have been announced, marking 20 years of a programme that has launched the careers of 98 graduates. This year’s recipients join a distinguished list of jewellers who have used the initiative to gain industry exposure. A one-day exhibition at the Goldsmiths’ Centre in London on Tuesday, 3 March, showcases the work of fifty past winners. The display aims to inspire future students while highlighting the diversity of talent the award has cultivated over the last two decades.
Entries were split into two main categories for both BA and MA students: Show-off Statement Pieces and Responsible Thinking – Sustainable Eco-Heroes. The BA Show-off Statement Pieces category featured three winners. Ruby Lanigan, a graduate of Birmingham School of Jewellery, won for her Baroque Architecture Inspired Neckpiece. This gold-plated sterling silver piece translates Baroque ornament into a reversible composition with a detachable pendant. Yosef Salih Murad from Glasgow School of Art took the prize for Regular Irregularity, which draws on Iranian heritage and the symbolism of Persian carpets. Céline Munisso, a graduate of University for the Creative Arts, won for Sinful Indulgence. Her ring presents a miniature table scene featuring a baroque pearl “bird” beneath a cloche with a candle and wine glass in silver, wood, and enamel.
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At the Master’s level, Lengli Bai of Central Saint Martins won with Shimmer Ripples. The dramatic, multi-tiered necklace and earrings are crafted from paper yarn and silver-plated copper wire. In the Responsible Thinking – Sustainable Eco-Heroes category, BA graduate Lulu Tian (Central Saint Martins) won for bioplastic jewels made from fish scales. These modular adornments are dyed with plant pigments and resemble seaweed, plankton, or coral forms. MA graduate Bocen Zhou (Royal College of Art) won for The Life of a Pebble necklace. This piece combines kiln-formed glass bubbles with soil and reclaimed silver to examine material cycles.
Among the fifty jewellers featured in the 20th Anniversary Exhibition are now-renowned names such as Pippa Small, Fernando Jorge, Ruth Tomlinson, Tomasz Donocik, Zeemou Zeng, Alexandra Jefford, Hattie Rickards, Ana de Costa, and Imogen Belfield. These alumni have used the platform to connect with the industry, press, and retailers. Bright New Gems is a not-for-profit mentoring programme launched in 2005 by Jennifer Hall-Thompson and the late Suzanna Hammond. The initiative has grown into the UK’s leading platform for emerging talent, providing professional development alongside the awards.
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Judges for this year’s panel included Liz Olver, a jewellery industry consultant and author; and Susie Smither, an award-winning judge. The panel talk “Turning Points: 20 Years of New Voices in Jewellery” also took place during the exhibition. The event featured alumni Imogen Belfield, Katy Tromans, and Makila Nsika discussing their career-defining moments and journeys from graduation to entrepreneurship. The Goldsmiths’ Centre exhibition runs for one day only on 3 March, offering a snapshot of the creative output that has emerged from the award since its inception.
