Novus Jewellery Training

  Spoiler Alert! This post contains spoilers, please watch the episode first. And then there were 4.  Things are getting interesting for sure as we now enter the semi-finals of the competition. They kick off the bestseller challenge, with the theme of a Cuff bangle. Think Warrior, Wonder Woman, Gladiator!  Strong, fierce and tough as nails. The bangle must have a 1 and a quarter inch gap (which to the rest of us is around 3cm). It must contain stones, and all stones must be bezel set.  5 Hours to complete. Supplied:  1.5mm thick silver plate/sheet. Dan had a great combo of chalcedony and rutilated quartz - all of them angular. FYI corners are VERY challenging to set in a bezel setting. Hugo chose citrine, blue sapphire and labradorite to go with his water/river theme bracelet. Sonny chose moonstone cabochons and small white faceted stones to represent the night sky. Tamara selected a central watermelon tourmaline, surrounded by four pink sapphires. Why Sonny chose to forge his bracelet

  This post contains spoilers - please watch the episode first This week signals the start of the quarter finals with only 5 jewellers remaining. It is starting to become more evident that the jewellers should not only have great fabrication ability, but also strong design skills. The Bestseller challenge this week is to design a pair of hoop earrings.   The jewellers were given 9ct gold to work with in plate, wire or granule form. Hoop earrings have been ancient symbols of status and power for millennia.  These hoops must match perfectly, they can be open or closed, and they must sit on the ear beautifully. They were given 5 hours to manufacture these.  9ct Yellow gold is a very tricky metal to work in.  If you overheat your your granules and burn away the zinc, you have a red looking yellow gold, but not quite redgold colour.  With only 37.5% pure gold content, it melts easily when soldering for no reason, and tends to get very hard and brittle when overworked.  Unlike 14,18 and 22ct

       All that glitters judge Shaun Leane This post contains SPOILERS, please watch the episode first before reading. Well, things have been heating up in the workshop! With only 6 jewellers left to get this episode started, it's about to get interesting. Just to recap, the remaining jewellers are: Nicola, Dan, Lee, Sonny, Hugo and Tamara Will Tamara be able to keep up with her complicated ideas and too little time?  Will Lee be able to get a bit more creative? They kick off with the Bestseller challenge:    Design and make a Cocktail ring using alternative materials (no silver/gold) Brass and copper is allowed,  Must be size M,  4 Hours A cocktail ring must make a statement, it must be eye-catching, contemporary and of course oversized.  The jewellers were allowed to bring some alternative materials from home on top of those provided in the workshop.   Nicola chose Paper, Dan chose leather and brass, Lee chose dichroic glass, resin and copper, Sonny chose dark hard wood and coppe

This post contains spoilers - please watch the episode first. Episode 2 (21 April) kicks off with one less jeweller, only 7 left, as Naomi was voted out last week at the end of episode 1.   The jewellers start with the first project for this week  - the best seller. Wait, what? They did that last week?!  Yes, I know, but it seems that the best seller, and the bespoke challenge is the set format for each episode, with just a change in theme. This week the best seller theme:  A chain collar (4 hours)           Specifications:  Must be 18inches (45cm) long, links must interlink, must sit comfortably on the collar bone.           They were given 15cm of 3mm sterling silver wire, and some silver casting grain (we call  them  granules) Honestly, I did not know specifically what a chain collar was.  Why they could not have said a short decorative chain, with 3 different links, no one knows.  But the fact that it must be an interlinking set of links (no jump rings!) was a bit vague, and I did

 This post contains spoilers - please watch the episode first. If you haven't heard of the latest reality TV series to hit the screens, where have you been? All that glitters is a BBC reality series that started on the 13th of April 2021.  Only aired in the UK, the best place to watch for the rest of us,  is YouTube. The concept follows the standard recipe format of putting a bunch of jewellers together in a workshop, giving them projects to design and make, and choosing the winners and the losers after each episode. But; the time given for each project is too little, the projects too complex, the skill level too varied - and THAT makes for some interesting television. The contestants remain the same throughout the series, but with each episode one is voted out, until there is only one left. After the first project of each episode, some of the contestants are put on probation (shown by having the light of their display boxes turned off).  They have to then work extra hard to redeem

September 2011 Lovely pair of Red spinel earrings with diamonds We also get to have fun and ma ke chunky silver pieces. Like this Amethyst and sterling silver piece. Taking a break from making serious jewellery ... October 2011 Challenging design brief for a family crest ring in sterling silver. November 2011 Each day is interesting and has its own challenges: Make a tiny bell 15mm x 10mm, and it must ring... December 2011 Brooch for baby Bailey... with a little diamond. Each baby girl should get her first diamond from her dad, don't you agree?