Jewellery Design

Jewellery design is a discipline that sits at the intersection of fine art, craft, and design, combining creative vision with the highly developed material skills needed to work with metals, gemstones, and other precious and non-precious materials. Jewellery has been made and worn by human beings for thousands of years, carrying cultural, symbolic, and personal meaning as well as aesthetic value. Contemporary jewellery practice encompasses everything from fine jewellery for commercial clients to conceptual artist-jewellery that questions conventional assumptions about value, wearability, and beauty.

The jeweller must be a skilled maker, a thoughtful designer, and, in many cases, a commercially astute practitioner.

At the University of the Arts, London, this three-year full-time programme develops your design and making skills within one of the world's leading environments for creative education. You will develop technical competence in the materials and processes of jewellery making alongside the conceptual and contextual understanding that situates contemporary practice within its cultural and historical frameworks. The programme includes a sandwich year with placement, giving you professional experience in the jewellery industry or a related design context during your studies.

UAL's position at the centre of London's fashion and design industries gives you significant advantages in terms of industry connections and the visibility of your work.

Graduates work as jewellery designers, makers, and craftspeople in independent practice, for commercial jewellery brands, in fashion and accessories companies, and in the museum and heritage sector. Many combine their practice with teaching, commissions, and exhibition work, developing a portfolio career that is typical of the contemporary designer-maker. Postgraduate study at MA level is a well-established path for those who wish to develop their practice further, specialise in a particular area, or move into teaching and research.