Three Birmingham City University (BCU) School of Jewellery (SoJ) students demonstrated exactly what is possible with a small bag of semi-precious stones and a huge amount of imagination, ingenuity and skill, as Weston Beamor (WB) announced the winners of their annual Live Project on Tuesday 5th February at Jewellery & Watch, at the Birmingham NEC.
This year’s winner, Bethan Cubbin, designed a striking, yet delicate piece featuring emerald and marquise cut diamonds. The judges selected Bethan’s ring as the winner, as they felt that it well and truly hit all aspects of the brief, although the team at WB acknowledged that all three rings were of an extremely high standard, making the final selection especially difficult. Samantha Conroy and Owen Phillip Lee placed second and third place.
This year’s theme was cocktail rings, a trend that has experienced a huge resurgence thanks to Meghan, Duchess of Sussex; the class were tasked with creating a signature ring around a coloured semi-precious gemstone which they selected blind from a ‘lucky dip’ bag. Students also had to create branding and a retail ‘launch’ print advert to complement their design. The annual competition is open to all 2nd year BCU SoJ Higher National Diploma in Jewellery Manufacturing students.
A prototype of each finalist’s ring was produced, overseen by WB Senior CAD Designer Anousca Hume, and exhibited on the WB stand throughout Jewellery & Watch 2019. All finalists will receive a week’s work experience at WB, where they will engage in a structured programme designed to further reinforce CAD design, jewellery manufacturing and 3D printing processes. Bethan was also rewarded with £500; Samantha and Owen received £250 and £100 respectively.