Reading shop's Jewellery Design competition winner announced

Jacobs’ Emerging Designer Competition:  Announcing winner of 2024’s 10^th Edition

We announced the winner of their Emerging Designer’s competition this week. The results were as follows:

You can view the designs here. 

Bishopsland Educational Trust designers took part in the competition presented instore and via www.jacobsthejewellers.com during June. Each participant showcased an item of silver as well as a piece of jewellery.  Over the voting period, visitors to Jacobs’ website or shop voted for their favourite jewellery design as well as their preferred silver object. Wojciech Linde-Apanowicz successfully sold his silver jewellery item, a ring, demonstrating the competition’s commercial appeal.

The announcement was made in Jacobs’ central Reading shop with Angela Cork, Bishopsland Principal, Claire Murdoch, Bishopsland CEO, Chris Oliver, Head of Professional Training from the Goldsmith’s Centre and Leo Hadgi-Petrou, from HS Walsh in attendance. Joining them was the Worshipful the Mayor of Reading, Councillor Glenn Dennis, who presented certificates to the winners. Over 600 votes were cast this year, both in person and online.

This year marks the 10th and last competition, as Bishopsland move away from the area to a new site at the National Trust property of Buscot in West Oxfordshire, the home of the new, National Trust Heritage and Rural Skills Centre. Over a decade, many students have participated and gained from the real life experience of making to deadlines high quality pieces in a genuinely competitive environment. The winners each received £250 of HS Walsh vouchers, the runners up £100 vouchers each, to spend on tools or materials to help establish their careers in the jewellery and silver industry, plus a framed presentation certificate.

The annual competition has been made possible for the Bishopsland Educational Trust through the initiative, co-operation and support of Jacobs the Jewellers, the Goldsmiths’ Centre and HS Walsh.

Adam Jacobs, Partner, Jacobs the Jewellers: “It’s been an absolute pleasure to present this competition over the last decade. My thanks to the co-sponsors at The Goldsmiths’ Centre and HS Walsh, who have supported us from the very beginning – their commitment is without parallel. We congratulate this year’s participants and the previous nine, and wish them all the very best in their careers. We wish all at Bishopsland lots of good fortune in their new home – they’ll be missed!”

Chris Oliver, Head of Professional Training, The Goldsmiths’ Centre:

““Our funding for Bishopsland Educational Trust has been driven by the motivation to help make opportunities, such as the Emerging Designer competition, a staple in the community’s diaries. At the Goldsmiths' Centre, we are deeply committed to nurturing emerging talent in jewellery and silversmithing. We celebrate Jacob the Jewellers for providing students from Bishopsland Educational Trust with an invaluable opportunity to gain practical retail experience and congratulate this year’s winners.”

Angela Cork, Principal, Bishopsland Educational Trust: “We are delighted to have this opportunity to showcase our cohort’s work at Jacobs the Jewellers and our congratulations go to all the winners. We are extremely grateful to Adam Jacobs and the other sponsors, the Goldsmiths’ Centre and HS Walsh, for offering this unique retail experience and supporting Bishopsland to create opportunities to help emerging makers establish their careers. It has been a privilege to participate in this event for the last 10 years and we look forward to staying in contact when we move to our new home for silversmithing in Buscot.”

 Leo Hadgi-Petrou, Manager at HS Walsh & Sons said “2024’s edition had an exceptionally high standard of work.It is great to see the truly outstanding work that is being made to revive the heritage skills in the diverse array of pieces submitted and all the HS Walsh team were really challenged in selecting their favourites.  Puck, Jamie, Beca and Sarah are truly worthy winners with a high number of votes, though we congratulate all the talented Bishopsland gang."