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Now entering its nineteenth year, The Bright New Gems initiative was created by us for International Jewellery London (IJL). It has gone on to become the foremost industry mentoring programme and showcase in the UK and Scotland, for young, emerging talent.
Originally launched at IJL 2005, the BNGs stand quickly became he ‘must visit’ exhibit for visitors and exhibitors alike.
Today the BNGs are selected from final year BA and MA students from UK colleges and universities by a stellar panel of judges from media and industry, and leading retailer John Lewis & Partners.
To date the BNGs programme has enabled eighty-five BNG designers to showcase their work to the industry, to retailers and opinion formers. Designers such as Pippa Small, Fernando Jorge, Ruth Tomlinson, Tomasz Donocik, and, most recently, Zeemou Zeng, all started their journey as a Bright New Gem and have gone on to carve out very successful award-winning careers.
The team leads this ‘not for profit’ mentoring programme – liaising with universities, colleges, and judges, as well as industry supporters such as The National Association of Jewellers, The Benevolent Society, The Retail Jeweller and sponsors including The Rockhound, Fuli Gemstones and Jewel Ads.
In 2022, we organised for John Lewis to join the initiative as a Retail Associate – adding an exciting opportunity for the winning designers to create an exclusive, debut, demi-fine collection for sale in-store and online.
BNG news is covered extensively in UK industry titles as well as in the Financial Times, Town & Country, The Regional Press and even international trade titles such as JZA South Africa.
“Think of emerging jewellery talent and it is almost impossible not to immediately Think of Bright New Gems. For nearly two decades, this pioneering platform has championed a new way to identify, mentor and promote the next generation of young stars, poised to dazzle the international jewellery market with their innovative creativity and 21st-century mindsets.”
Hilary Alexander – the late fashion commentator, and one of the leading forces behind Graduate Fashion Week, was a BNG judge for 16 years.
Interested in entering?
BA and MA 2024 graduates are invited to complete the application form. Good luck!