IJL announces Bright Young Gems 2019 winners

International Jewellery London (IJL) , the jewellery trade show, has announced announce the four winning designers of Bright Young Gems 2019; Isla Gilham, Eloise Kramer, Lingjun Sun, Wen-Ju Tseng.

Now in its 14th year, IJL’s Bright Young Gems project selects talented designers who are recent graduates or current students of jewellery schools in the UK. The chosen designers of get the opportunity to exhibit their work at IJL, as well as benefit from dedicated mentoring from jewellery experts before and during the event.

This year’s winners include an expert cutter and opal specialising gemologist based in Australia (Lingjun Sun), a previous winner of Solange Azagury- Partridge award (Eloise Kramer), a designer who specialises in hand carved gems (Isla Gilham) and a jewellery designer that challenges societal expectations (Wen-Ju Tseng). All four winners studied at Central Saint Martins, University of London.

IJL revealed there were also four highly commended entrants; Chih Ning Li (Birmgham University), Naomi Scott (Glasgow School of Art), Caroline Wellesley (Sir John Cass School of Architecture, Art and Design – East London) and Sarah Christian (Hereford College of Arts). The four highly commended entrants will all receive free entry to IJL and be invited to networking opportunities within the show.

This year’s judges included established and award-winning designers Dinny Hall and Bobby White; industry consultant Nyasha Pitt; Charlie Miller, executive fashion and jewellery director at Porter; and Katerina Perez, founder and editor-in-chief of KaterinaPerez.com and IJL Blog Award winner 2018.

Katie Morris, event director of IJL, said: “We are proud to offer a platform for these talented young designers at IJL. We know that the Bright Young Gems are a highlight for many of our visitors and it is wonderful to see the talent and passion coming into the jewellery industry. This is the 15th year of Bright Young Gems and this year’s fantastic line up, join an illustrious and select group of winners. We can’t wait to see them at the show in September.”