The GC&DC 2027 Competition Opens With 59 Awards for British Craft and Design

The Goldsmiths’ Craft & Design Council has launched its 2027 competition, inviting makers and designers from across the United Kingdom to place their work before some of the jewellery industry’s most experienced specialists.

Free to enter and open to people at every stage of their careers, the annual competition recognises technical excellence and creative design in precious metals, gemstones and related materials. Its reach extends from established craftspeople and professional designers to apprentices, students and hobbyists, giving emerging talent access to the same national platform as experienced practitioners.

The 2027 programme includes 40 categories across 2D design and 3D craft and design. Alongside these are seven Special Awards, four bursaries, three Major Awards, four Premier Awards and the College Trophy, bringing the total to 59 awards.

A competition built around the work

The breadth of the competition is one of its most important qualities. Jewellery awards can sometimes concentrate on the finished object or the public profile of its designer. The GC&DC Awards look more closely at how an object has been conceived and made.

Categories acknowledge the individual disciplines that sit behind jewellery and silversmithing, allowing specialist skills to be assessed on their own terms. Design ideas can be recognised before they become finished pieces, while completed work is considered for its execution, originality and command of materials.

Entries are judged anonymously by specialist industry experts. Judges can award Gold, Silver and Bronze distinctions according to the Council’s benchmark standards, while selected work may also be considered for bursaries and the competition’s Special, Major and Premier Awards.

There is no guarantee that every available prize will be presented. Awards can be withheld when the required standard has not been met, helping preserve their value as a genuine measure of achievement rather than simply participation.

Guests gather for the Goldsmiths’ Craft & Design Council Awards ceremony in 2026, celebrating achievement across jewellery, silversmithing and the allied crafts. | Source: GC&DC

An open door into the industry

Removing the entry fee matters, particularly for students, apprentices and independent craftspeople working with limited resources. It allows the competition to assess talent without making the ability to pay part of the selection process.

Entrants may be working professionally, studying on a recognised course, completing an apprenticeship or pursuing their craft independently. The principal requirement is that the work must be original, designed or made in the United Kingdom and completed within the eligible period.

This openness gives the competition an unusual role within the trade. It is not simply a celebration of those who are already visible. It can provide early recognition, practical feedback and industry exposure to people whose work might otherwise remain within a classroom, workshop or private studio.

“The GC&DC Awards have always been about recognising and encouraging the remarkable skill, imagination and dedication that sit at the heart of our industry,”

Judith Lockwood, Chair of the Goldsmiths’ Craft & Design Council

Judith Lockwood, Chair of the Goldsmiths’ Craft & Design Council, which has opened its 2027 competition to makers and designers across the UK. | Source: GC&DC

Craft in an anniversary year

The 2027 awards will take place as the Goldsmiths’ Company celebrates its 700th anniversary, adding a particular resonance to a competition devoted to the future of British making.

That long history is meaningful only if knowledge continues to move between generations. Technical excellence is not preserved by admiration alone. It depends on education, repetition, experimentation and opportunities for makers to have their work examined seriously.

The GC&DC competition places traditional craftsmanship beside contemporary design rather than treating them as opposing ideas. A piece can demonstrate mastery of an inherited technique while responding to the way jewellery is designed, worn and understood today.

For the industry, this creates a valuable annual view of where British craft is heading. The entries reveal which skills are being sustained, how established methods are evolving and where a new generation is beginning to establish its own visual language.

Black-and-white seated portrait of GC&DC Chair Judith Lockwood wearing glasses, a dark tailored jacket and jewellery

The important dates

The 2027 competition briefs are now available, with the online entry form expected to open in November 2026. Completed online entry forms must be submitted by midnight on 10 January 2027.

Physical entries selected for judging must then be posted or delivered to the Goldsmiths’ Centre in London between 12 and 14 January.

The awards ceremony will be held at Goldsmiths’ Hall on Monday 8 March 2027 and will also be livestreamed. An exhibition and programme of events featuring award-winning work will run at the Hall from 8 to 19 March.

Entrants should read the rules and the individual category brief carefully before submitting. Each section has its own criteria, and work valued above £1,000 should be separately insured by the entrant.

The Jewels Club Take

The health of the jewellery industry cannot be measured only by sales, launches or the prominence of its largest houses. It also depends on whether talented people can learn difficult skills, test ambitious ideas and find meaningful recognition for their work.

The GC&DC Awards create that opportunity across an unusually broad range of disciplines and levels of experience. By remaining free to enter and judging work anonymously, the competition gives the object, drawing and craftspersonship the chance to speak first.

In the Goldsmiths’ Company’s 700th anniversary year, that feels especially appropriate. Heritage is most valuable when it becomes a foundation for the next piece, the next technique and the next maker.

Discover More

Explore the 2027 competition briefs, entry requirements and key dates on the Goldsmiths’ Craft & Design Council website.