Visionary Displays Backs Store Design at the NAJ Awards

Visionary Displays will sponsor the Store Design of the Year category at the 2026 NAJ Awards, placing the specialist showcase company alongside some of the most distinctive jewellery retail environments in the country.

Marketing Director of Visionary Displays and The Jewels Club Founder Andrew Martyniuk will present the award during the ceremony at Birmingham’s International Convention Centre on Thursday, 8 October.

The partnership feels particularly well matched. Visionary Displays has built its service around the way jewellery and watches are experienced in physical spaces, while the award recognises retailers that have transformed store design into a meaningful part of their identity.

Seven Retailers, Seven Approaches to Space

The finalists for Store Design of the Year are:

• Jessop Jewellers

• Johnsons Jewellers

• Marie-Blanche Jewellery

• Sheila Fleet Jewellery

• Susannah Lovis Jewellers

• The Piece London & Kirica Fine

• Wongs Jewellers

Each business demonstrates a different interpretation of the modern jewellery store. Some are rooted in longstanding retail traditions, while others have created newer environments built around appointments, discovery and a more intimate relationship with design.

What connects them is an understanding that a store is no longer simply somewhere to keep stock. It is a stage on which the customer encounters the brand.

Lighting, materials, display height, security, circulation and the relationship between open space and individual jewels all influence that encounter. The strongest interiors make these practical decisions feel effortless while giving the jewellery room to command attention.

Visionary Displays will sponsor the Store Design of the Year category at the NAJ Awards 2026

Why Visionary Displays Is Sponsoring the Category

Visionary Displays specialises in the presentation of jewellery and watches at exhibitions, launches, private events and other temporary retail settings.

Founded in 2007, the company developed its service around a challenge familiar to brands across the jewellery trade: how to create a secure and visually polished display without allowing logistics, cabling or installation to overwhelm the event itself.

Its answer is a range of cordless, battery-powered showcases supported by a complete delivery, installation and collection service.

The cabinets can be placed where the space and visitor journey demand rather than where the nearest electrical socket happens to be. Removing trailing cables creates a cleaner presentation, reduces trip hazards and can also avoid the additional power charges imposed by some exhibition venues.

That flexibility is especially valuable at jewellery events, where the placement of a single important piece can establish the visual centre of an entire room.

“We are incredibly proud to sponsor Store Design of the Year at the NAJ Awards. The way jewellery is presented can transform the customer experience, strengthen a brand’s identity and allow every piece to be seen at its very best. This category celebrates the creativity and attention to detail that make exceptional retail spaces so memorable, values that have always been at the heart of Visionary Displays.”

Malcolm Garrard, Founder of Visionary Displays

Akansha Sethi with her colourful fine jewellery collection, presented in a Visionary Displays showcase at The Jewellery Cut Live

Light Without Distraction

Jewellery display presents a particular technical challenge. The light must be strong enough to reveal colour, brilliance and surface detail without creating reflections that obscure the object or make photography difficult.

Visionary Displays’ showcases use integrated LED illumination to produce a clean, focused light inside the cabinet. The aim is to allow diamonds, gemstones, precious metals and watches to remain visually dominant while the cabinet itself recedes.

This has become more important as exhibitions and launches are increasingly photographed through mobile phones. A successful display must work for the guest standing in front of it and for the image that guest may share seconds later.

The company’s cordless lighting systems support both. They give exhibitors greater freedom over positioning while reducing the glare and visual clutter that can undermine photography through glass.

A selection of Visionary Displays’ illuminated glass cabinets, with tower and counter configurations available for jewellery exhibitions, retail environments and events

A Turnkey Service

The physical showcase is only one part of Visionary Displays’ offer.

Its turnkey service is designed to remove much of the operational burden from brands and event organisers. The team delivers the cabinets, installs them according to the agreed layout, prepares the lighting, cleans the glass and leaves each unit ready to receive the client’s jewellery or watches.

Staff can be shown how the cabinets operate, while additional support can be arranged for events requiring someone to remain available on site. At the end of the occasion, the team returns to dismantle and remove the displays.

This approach allows exhibitors to concentrate on collections, clients and sales rather than coordinating transport, power, assembly and removal.

The cabinets also combine presentation with practical functions. Depending on the model, features can include lockable storage, secure vitrines, integrated charging points and battery systems capable of supporting multi-day use.

Visionary Displays’ turnkey service covers the delivery, installation and positioning of illuminated cabinets to create a complete, exhibition-ready jewellery environment

Supporting the Next Generation of Jewellery Talent

Visionary Displays will also provide the illuminated cabinets used to showcase work from Birmingham City University and the Aston University Goldsmiths Institute during the NAJ Awards.

The installation will give work from both institutions a professional setting within the ICC Birmingham, allowing guests from across the jewellery trade to experience the pieces under the same considered lighting and presentation used for established brands.

It brings the company’s involvement into the room itself. Visionary Displays will not only sponsor Store Design of the Year but demonstrate how the right showcase can elevate an object, direct attention and give emerging makers a stronger platform.

The collaboration also connects education with industry. By presenting work from the two Birmingham institutions during one of the trade’s leading evenings, the displays will place developing talent in front of retailers, designers, manufacturers and other potential supporters.

Guests celebrate at the NAJ Awards 2025. Image courtesy of the National Association of Jewellers

Making a Temporary Space Feel Like a Brand

Visionary Displays also offers personalisation for brands seeking something more distinctive than an unbranded cabinet.

Logos and graphic treatments can be applied to the base or glass, while the interior can be styled with props and product supports suited to the collection. This allows a hired showcase to become part of a wider visual identity rather than appearing as generic event equipment.

For independent designers and established houses alike, this can make a considerable difference. An exhibition stand may exist for only a few days, but it still needs to communicate the same standards as a permanent boutique.

The temporary nature of an event does not reduce the importance of presentation. If anything, it increases it. A brand may have only a few seconds to attract attention in a room filled with competing objects and messages.

Visionary Displays brings contemporary jewellery presentation into a grand heritage setting, creating a polished and engaging retail experience

“Display Is Part of the Story”

Andrew Martyniuk said:

“Jewellery deserves more than a secure box. The display is part of the story because it shapes how light, space and movement create that first impression. That is why Store Design of the Year feels so closely aligned with what we do at Visionary Displays. We are also delighted to provide the cabinets showcasing work from Birmingham City University and the Aston University Goldsmiths Institute, giving emerging talent a professional platform in front of the wider trade. I am proud to present the award and celebrate the people transforming how jewellery is created, displayed and experienced.”

Andrew Martyniuk, Marketing Director of Visionary Displays and Founder of The Jewels Club

Andrew Martyniuk, Marketing Director of Visionary Displays and Founder of The Jewels Club

Martyniuk’s roles connect the practical and editorial sides of jewellery presentation. As Marketing Director of Visionary Displays, he works with the environments in which jewellery is shown. As Founder of The Jewels Club, he examines the designers, businesses and ideas shaping the wider industry.

Presenting Store Design of the Year brings those perspectives together.

The NAJ Awards Return to Birmingham

The 2026 NAJ Awards will take place at the ICC Birmingham on Thursday, 8 October.

The ceremony comprises 15 categories celebrating Great Ideas, Great People and Great Businesses across the UK jewellery industry. It also supports The Benevolent Society, the NAJ Educational Trust and the Silversmiths & Jewellers Charity.

Tickets cost £195 plus VAT for NAJ members and £245 plus VAT for non-members. Bookings of five or more tickets receive a 10% discount, while tables of ten or more include complimentary VIP drinks packages.

The central Birmingham venue has been selected to make the event accessible to attendees travelling from across the country, whether returning home after the ceremony or staying in the city overnight.

ICC Birmingham, the setting for the NAJ Awards 2026, dressed for an evening celebrating excellence across the jewellery industry

The Jewels Club Take

Store design is sometimes treated as a decorative layer applied after the commercial decisions have been made. In successful jewellery retail, it is far more fundamental.

The store determines how a customer approaches a piece, how long they remain with it and whether the environment creates confidence in its value. Security must be present without becoming oppressive. Lighting must reveal without overwhelming. The space must express the brand while allowing individual jewels to retain their own character.

Visionary Displays works with these same tensions in temporary settings. Its showcases bring together mobility, illumination, security and personalisation, giving brands the tools to create a considered environment wherever an event takes place.

That makes its sponsorship of Store Design of the Year more than the placement of a name beside a category. It reflects a shared belief that presentation is not separate from the jewellery experience.

It is part of what makes the experience memorable.

The NAJ Awards 2025 winners gather on stage with their trophies. Image courtesy of the National Association of Jewellers

Discover More

Visit the official NAJ Awards 2026 page to view the finalists and book tickets for the ceremony at ICC Birmingham.