All That Glitters

[00:00:01] Let the digger see the gold! We're on the hunt for Britain's next big jewellery star.
[00:00:06] So the gods be with me.
[00:00:07] What would you be excited to see from the jewellers?
[00:00:10] Sexiness.
[00:00:10] That's you and me, both.
[00:00:11] Judged by two of the biggest names in the business.
[00:00:14] It's not merked and it's not polished. Looks a bit dull.
[00:00:18] Keep going, don't give up.
[00:00:19] Whilst I lend a helping hand.
[00:00:21] Hi Kim.
[00:00:22] Not now.
[00:00:22] Death drop!
[00:00:23] This is exactly what I've been waiting for.
[00:00:26] Who will truly shine?
[00:00:27] You do the choosing, I'll do the boozing. Responsibly.
[00:00:32] All That Glitters. On BBC Two and iPlayer.

[00:00:02] Bonnie So I'm Bonnie Hay, I'm the Senior Metal Tech at BCU. I didn't start as a technician. I guess I sort of started as a student. Before that, I had my own workshop and collection and range. I did the MA in Jewellery and Related Products. That was at the School of Jewellery, and that was amazing. I applied to the show All That Glitters, because when I actually saw it, I watched it and I think the first episode they did three bangles in 3 hours, and part of me was like, hang on, no way. That's ridiculous. And then the other part of me was like, Hell yeah, get me in.

[00:00:57] So there's so many times I've pushed students out of their comfort zone to get to where they need to be. I was like, I got to do that for myself, so I'm glad I did it. And at least now it's going to be coming out. I can say to the students, Look, you know, I've taken these risks, too.

[00:01:14] So the fact that all the glitter has used, the world famous School of Jewellery to stage this event to me was just like, this is destiny.

[00:01:27] I did my MA here. So that's one short year. I didn't do my undergraduate. And in some in some in most respects, I kind of wish I had because I would have had that underpinning technical kind of skills.

[00:01:42] So I came in kind of like from the side on the MA and it worked for me because it was so creative and that whole year you really sort of delve into, oh, so many different like topics and you get to hone your practice.

[00:01:58] Like any budding jeweller's out there, like come on board the water sweet, you know, take that leap and really invest in your practice. My advice was I sort of like - I'm self-taught and if I were to do it again, I'd totally go on the national diploma and the higher national diploma at the School of Jewellery because that is nuts and bolts, that's your bread and butter, that's how you put things together, how you start to design. That's just sort of like the foundations from which you can build. And then if you really super enjoy it, you know, of course, like there's the BA and the MA, I think jewellers get a lot from each other, and it's great to sort of build your sense of community, which actually studying here does.

[00:02:48] I guess the next stage of like really sort of producing jewellery, producing sort of jewellery artwork is kind of like having an outlet. So it's always been like a dream, particularly of my husband's and of course of mine, to have some sort of outlet. So it's a collaboration between two designers. Me and my husband met at a on our MA here at BCU and it's kind of like a continuation of that.

[00:03:20] We have actually found somewhere in the in the Jewellery Quarter, so we can run it as a work shop. So that's the next project. Renovating the shop, getting it up, getting it functional.

[00:03:34] You know, if anyone's like seen All That Glitters and like kind of spark something in you I do think it's really fantastic to get your foundation in and like what better opportunity than the School of Jewellery? What better accolade than actually studying there? Fantastic.