Novus Jewellery Training

       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,...

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....

 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...