University News Last updated 07 December 2016
Two School of Jewellery graduates’ exceptional talent has been recognised at this year’s Benchpeg awards.
Benchpeg is a weekly newsletter that informs subscribers of the latest jewellery trade news. The Benchpeg Awards are focused on helping jewellery students, graduates and new businesses enhance, or even begin, their career in the industry.
This year’s awards were partnered with the Goldsmiths’ Company Assay Office and were looking for budding and existing jewellers to enter their work to the Make Your Mark competition which was based around the application of a hallmark to a piece of jewellery or silver.
Shuming Chen, BA Jewellery and Related Products graduate, and current MA Jewellery and Related Products student, was awarded the Design for Creativity, Innovation or Disruption award. Her collection ‘Monitoring in the Dark’ is inspired by the lack of freedom in today’s society due to ever growing surveillance. Shuming's creative and retro-futurist take on people’s inability to protect their own privacy as told through her handpieces, rings, glasses and brooches.
First class BA Jewellery and Silversmithing – Design for Industry School of Jewellery graduate Chung-I Chien also won at the award. Chung-I was awarded the Design for Commercial Sales: Competitive Retail award for her 'Allure Spiked Drop Earrings'. The production of the piece used CADCAM which mirrored the movement of a snake to produce a piece inspired both by snakes and gemstones.
Shuming and Chung-I won some wonderful prizes for achieving their awards including project management consultancy with Miracca London, a full photography package from AdShot to represent their collections, a one day mentoring session at the School of Jewellery’s Centre for Digital Design and Manufacturing (DMM) and a feature in Benchpeg itself.