The Bright New Gems initiative was founded in 2005 for International Jewellery London (IJL) and quickly became the ‘must visit’ exhibit for visitors and exhibitors alike. It has gone on to become the foremost, UK industry mentoring programme and showcase for new, emerging talent.

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 luxury retailer Liberty London. The BNGs showcase their collections at the Retail Jeweller Festival in March.

To date the BNGs programme has enabled ninety-eight 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, more 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, Retail Jeweller and sponsors including The GoldDust Collective, The Rock Hound, and Jewel Ads.

BNG news is covered extensively in UK industry titles as well as in the Financial Times, Town & Country, The Regional Press and international trade titles such as JZA South Africa.