Coutts London Jewellery Week was a great success for all at the Academy with our first ever Academy Awards a highlight of the week.  There were also a series of workshops at the Academy and supper club evenings at local restaurants giving visitors to Hatton Garden the chance to see behind the scenes of the industry.  Over 200 people joined the workshops which were tasters of the courses available on different aspects of jewellery design and production.  This included how to chose stones for different settings, the latest in computer aided design as well as ancient crafts like enamelling and a shopping guide on buying gemstones and what makes them fabulous and how to spot a fake.

Holts Academy aims to make the jewellery industry accessible to all: to those who have experience and training but want to refresh skills as well as absolute beginners with no formal training in the business.  The Awards were very rewarding for the Academy team as we could see our students establishing themselves as designer-makers and showcasing to the industry some of the best new work in the UK.

For many of our courses we have partnered with other organisations such as the London Development Agency, through the City Fringe Partnerships, and our thanks to them and industry partner The Goldsmith’s Company who helped judge the winners and enabled the Awards to take place.

Academy Awards – recognising new talent
Over 600 designer makers both established and new entrants to the jewellery industry were considered for the Holts Academy Awards which was judged by a host of industry experts. 

Prizes were awarded to twelve individual category winners at the Awards Ceremony and there were many special mentions for highly commended entries.  Speakers on the night included Councillor Guy Nicholson, Chair of City Fringe Partnership, Colin Green, Deputy Chair of London Jewellery First and Jason Holt, founder of the Academy.

The BRITS school launched the evening with their production of a special dance performance.  With over £100,000 in jewellery on display and 200 industry and student guests it was a glittering evening that highlighted the creativity and passion of all the learners and a great showcase for the whole industry of their achievements.

Great publicity was also generated with a BBC London television news feature, interviews on the Jewellery Channel as well as feature pieces in Metro, London news websites and other local newspapers about the winners.   The official Coutts London Jewellery Week website also covered extensive news and video highlights of the Holts Academy programme for the week.

And the winners were:

Design Awards

There were two awards for design, one for computer aided design (CAD) and one for traditional.  The Goldsmith’s Company sponsored this category with a prize of £150 for each award winner.  The first prize for CAD jewellery was awarded to David Valle for a stunning platinum and diamond ring ‘King of the Waves’ and first prize for traditional design went to Janet Weller for her elegant ‘Nature’s Trail’.

David’s design for a twisted ring of platinum and diamonds represented the sultry movement of the sea shore waves in the breaking morning light and Janet’s necklace of yellow and white gold with chocolate pearls, diamonds, coloured gemstones and translucent enamel was inspired by a visit to the Eden Project in Cornwall.

Finished Pieces

Prizes were awarded for finished pieces, both new industry entrant and trade professional. The newcomers prize was won by Erez Kovrigo for a beautifully crafted bangle set with semi-precious gem-stones called ‘Butterflies of Love’ and Sarah Herriot won first prize for a a finished piece for a trade professional with the remarkable spiralling ‘Egg’ ring in fine twisted gold. 

Erez only recently became involved in the industry after being inspired to learn jewellery design after travelling in Asia and is now beginning to establish his own voice as a designer-maker.  Sarah has been a full time designer for the last four years and was also highly commended in two other design categories for her work which has enduring qualities of form, design, simplicity and a natural elegance.

Project Awards

There were three categories of project awards, reflecting the variety of courses available through the Academy.  First prizes were awarded to Anna Maria Saddat for ‘Bespoke Training and Technology’, Zoe White for ‘Women into Jewellery’ and William Cheshire for the Future in the Making Project.

The three projects inspired different approaches by the award winners.  Anna Maria’s sparkling ‘Spring Ring’ of yellow gold set with cabachon gemstones and cut diamonds and Zoe’s ‘Evolution’ choker of silver leaves combined with leaves made from drinking cans both took a seasonal natural inspiration but with very different executions.  In contrast William Cheshire’s ‘Burlesque’ earrings of platinum and silver represented the hidden glamour of the city streets at night and blended traditional workmanship with an edgy modern feel.

Innovation Award
The final prize of £500 was awarded to Monika Kochard for her ‘Butterfly’ ring.  As winner of the Innovation award Monika will be designing the award for next year's winner when we hope to see a new range of talent entering for the awards.

Holts Academy Awards Winners List

Design Awards in association with The Goldsmith’s Company

1.  Computer Aided Design and Presentation Drawing

Highly Commended:            

Bronagh Kennedy     ‘Bank’ cufflinks
Sarah Essex         ‘Aperture’ ring
Sarah Herriot         ‘Manhattan’ ring

2nd Prize - £100             Arabel Lebrusan     ‘Sweet Fire’

1st Prize - £150             David Valle         ‘King of the Waves’ ring

2.    Presentation Drawing using Traditional Techniques

Highly Commended:           

Maiko Nagayama      ‘Temptation’ necklace

2nd Prize - £100            Monika Kuchard      ‘Heures Indones’

1st Prize - £150            Janet Weller         ‘Natures Trail’

Finished Piece Awards

1.    New Industry Entrant, Finished Piece

Highly Commended:           

Bronagh Kennedy      ‘Bank’ cufflinks
Harshita Deolia      ‘1920’s’ cufflinks
Leonie Bennet     ‘Chrysoprase Tulip’ pendant

1st Prize:                Erez Kovrigo         ‘Butterflies of Love’

2.    Trade Professional, Finished Piece

Highly Commended:           

Angie Boothroyd      ‘Mans Wedding Ring’
William Cheshire     ‘Burlesque’ earrings

1st Prize                Sarah Herriot         ‘Fine Twist Egg’ ring

Project Awards

1.    Women into Jewellery

Highly Commended:            

Parob Coast         ‘Hammer & Nails
Debbie Carlton     ‘Vesica’ pendant

1st Prize:                 Zoe White        ‘Evolution’ choker   
£500 workbench provided by Walsh

2.    Bespoke Training & Technology (BTTP)

1st Prize                 Anna Maria Saddat      ‘Spring’ ring

3.    Future in the Making (FITM)

Highly Commended:           

Sarah Herriot         ‘Fine Twist Egg’ ring

1st Prize:                William Cheshire      Burlesque’ earrings

Special Award – Innovation

3rd Prize: £200            Regina Aradesian      ‘Bangle’

2nd Prize £300                Gloria Carlos         ‘Ring Iron & 18kt Gold’

1st Prize: £500            Monika Kuchard    ‘Butterfly’ ring’

For details and photos of winning pieces check out our news section here.