The 2025 Bright New Gems award winners join a distinguished group of jewellers who, over the past twenty years, have benefited from the career boost the award provides. In addition to showcasing graduates’ work, the programme offers mentoring and professional development, helping launch the careers of 98 of the brightest talents in jewellery design. This milestone is being celebrated with a one-day-only exhibition at the Goldsmiths’ Centre in London on Tuesday, 3 March, where the work of fifty past winners will be displayed—both to inspire future graduates and to highlight the diversity of previous recipients.
Bright New Gems judge, Susi Smither comments on the commitment of the panel: 'With a legacy of talent spotting the best jewellery graduates over the course of the last twenty years, the onus is on us judges to get it right. '
The awards are split into two categories for both BA and MA entrants: Show-off Statement Pieces and Responsible Thinking – Sustainable Eco-Heroes. This year’s Show-off Statement Pieces winners among the BA graduates include Ruby Lanigan (Birmingham School of Jewellery) for her bold and versatile Baroque Architecture Necklace; Yosef Salih Murad (Glasgow School of Art) with the Regular Irregularity design, drawing on Iranian heritage and the rich symbolism of Persian carpets; and Céline Munisso (University for the Creative Arts) for her evocative Sinful Indulgence ring, which features a miniature table setting, baroque pearl, and candle from the Pay the Bill – Avicide collection. In the MA section, Lengli Bai (Central Saint Martins) took the prize with the dramatic, multi-tiered Shimmer Ripples necklace and earrings, crafted from paper yarn and silver-plated copper wire.
The Responsible Thinking – Sustainable Eco-Heroes winners are BA graduate Lulu Tian (Central Saint Martins), who developed bioplastic jewels from fish scales inspired by seaweed and plankton, and MA graduate Bocen Zhou (Royal College of Art), who created the hauntingly beautiful The Life of a Pebble necklace from soil, glass, and silver. Highly commended are Luofan Zhuang, Jiayang He, Andrea Carrera, Xiyue Mei, and Dan Le.
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.
Running alongside the exhibition is the panel talk Turning Points: 20 Years of New Voices in Jewellery, where I will speak with three Bright New Gems alumni—Imogen Belfield, Katy Tromans, and Makila Nsika—who will share insights into career-defining moments, pivotal decisions, challenges, collaborations, and the journey from graduation to becoming successful jewellery entrepreneurs.
Bright New Gems is a not-for-profit mentoring programme, launched in 2005 by Jennifer Hall-Thompson and the late Suzanna Hammond, that has grown into the UK’s leading initiative of its kind. It offers mentoring and a platform for emerging talent to connect with the industry, press, and retailers. This year’s judging panel includes Liz Olver (jewellery industry consultant, author, and former senior lecturer at Central Saint Martins), Susie Smither (award-winning jeweller, sustainability advocate, and founder of The Rock Hound), Ruby Beales (jewellery buyer at Liberty Bright New Gems Marks 20 Years of Talent-Spotting
Bright New Gems announces the 2025 award winners and reflects on two decades of championing jewellery course graduates.
The 2025 Bright New Gems award winners join a distinguished group of jewellers who, over the past twenty years, have benefited from the career boost the award provides. In addition to showcasing graduates’ work, the programme offers mentoring and professional development, helping launch the careers of 98 of the brightest talents in jewellery design. This milestone is being celebrated with a one-day-only exhibition at the Goldsmiths’ Centre in London on Tuesday, 3 March, where the work of fifty past winners will be displayed—both to inspire future graduates and to highlight the diversity of previous recipients.
The awards are split into two categories for both BA and MA entrants: Show-off Statement Pieces and Responsible Thinking – Sustainable Eco-Heroes. This year’s Show-off Statement Pieces winners among the BA graduates include Ruby Lanigan (Birmingham School of Jewellery) for her bold and versatile Baroque Architecture Necklace; Yosef Salih Murad (Glasgow School of Art) with the Regular Irregularity design, drawing on Iranian heritage and the rich symbolism of Persian carpets; and Céline Munisso (University for the Creative Arts) for her evocative Sinful Indulgence ring, which features a miniature table setting, baroque pearl, and candle from the Pay the Bill – Avicide collection. In the MA section, Lengli Bai (Central Saint Martins) took the prize with the dramatic, multi-tiered Shimmer Ripples necklace and earrings, crafted from paper yarn and silver-plated copper wire.
The Responsible Thinking – Sustainable Eco-Heroes winners are BA graduate Lulu Tian (Central Saint Martins), who developed bioplastic jewels from fish scales inspired by seaweed and plankton, and MA graduate Bocen Zhou (Royal College of Art), who created the hauntingly beautiful The Life of a Pebble necklace from soil, glass, and silver. Highly commended are Luofan Zhuang, Jiayang He, Andrea Carrera, Xiyue Mei, and Dan Le.
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.
Running alongside the exhibition is the panel talk Turning Points: 20 Years of New Voices in Jewellery, where I will speak with three Bright New Gems alumni—Imogen Belfield, Katy Tromans, and Makila Nsika—who will share insights into career-defining moments, pivotal decisions, challenges, collaborations, and the journey from graduation to becoming successful jewellery entrepreneurs.
Bright New Gems is a not-for-profit mentoring programme, launched in 2005 by Jennifer Hall-Thompson and the late Suzanna Hammond, that has grown into the UK’s leading initiative of its kind. It offers mentoring and a platform for emerging talent to connect with the industry, press, and retailers. This year’s judging panel includes Liz Olver (jewellery industry consultant, author, and former senior lecturer at Central Saint Martins), Susie Smither (award-winning jeweller, sustainability advocate, and founder of The Rock Hound), Ruby Beales (jewellery buyer at Liberty London), Tomasz Donocik (multi-award-winning designer and Royal College of Art graduate), and myself, a jewellery author, editor, and co-founder of this website).
The Bright New Gems 20th anniversary exhibition and the Turning Points panel talk will be held at the Goldsmiths’ Centre, 42 Britton Street, London EC1M 5AD on Tuesday 3 March from 6:00pm to 7:30pm. Click this link to book tickets.
