2026 New Graduates this stand has been provided free of charge by Joanne Gowan to a group of Jewellery Degree Graduates to showcase their work. Joanne believes that it is crucial that new makers beginning the journey of a lifetime as a designer maker are given every opportunity to thrive. With the present economic conditions things are very tough for those starting out so it is important to promote new designers as they carry the craft skills forward to future generations.
The stand is organised by Roo Nicholson, who has worked with Joanne on many occasions gaining valuable work experience since the age of 15 years.
Roo Nicholson lives and works in Edinburgh where she completed her jewellery degree in 2026. Roo is a curious young jeweller and printmaker whose passion for jewellery comes from a fascination for human self-expression and the practice of collecting personal talismans. Roo’s current work centres around the vitality of rest and rituals, celebrating the quiet beauty of the mundane through playful and charming miniature wearable objects. Roo uses printmaking as an accompaniment for her jewellery collection, to help communicate the meaningful value of the piece through illustrative storytelling, and pay homage to her holistic creative process
Instagram @designedbyroo roonicholson.design@gmail.com
Sophie Izard is an award winning metalsmith who takes inspiration from the domestic to make beautiful, usable objects for the home and for the body.
In her work, Sophie explores what it means to be a modern metalsmith. Sophie wants her work to be used, to be part of the home and to absorb the rhythms of daily life. Many of Sophie’s pieces have multiple uses, making them practical as well as beautiful additions to the home. Sophie also creates wearable pieces, allowing you to carry a bit of home with you, wherever you go.
Sophie has taken a non-traditional route to becoming a metalsmith, working as a project manager for many years until discovering her passion at evening classes at Silverhub in Edinburgh. Ignited by Silverhub, Sophie embarked on a degree in Silversmithing and Jewellery at the Glasgow School of Art, from which she graduated in 2026 with first class honours.
Instagram @sophie.izard sophieizarddesigns@gmail.com
Charlotte Faith is a designer-maker from the Black Isle in the Scottish Highlands. She studied Art and Design at UHI Inverness, developing a strong foundation in drawing that remains central to her design process, before graduating with a BDes (Hons) in Jewellery and Metal Design from Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design.
Selected as an Ethical Making Ambassador for the Scottish Goldsmiths Trust in 2024, Charlotte's practice reflects an ongoing engagement with sustainable practices and material responsibility. Her contemporary fine jewellery explores themes of healing, ritual, and the natural world, drawing on the forms and symbolism of rosemary to create hand-fabricated pieces where uniformity, movement, and considered connection are central.
Instagram @charlottefaithjewellery sophieizarddesigns@gmail.com
Sara Wilkinson is a Canadian jeweller based in Birmingham, England. She grew up
in rural Ontario, Canada which is where her love for nature began to take shape. Sara took a ring making workshop which then inspired her to attend George Brown College in Toronto for the Jewellery Arts program in which she graduated with honours in 2025. She took an intensive workshop on granulation and Argentium, studying under Ronda Coryell. Sara then went on to attend Birmingham City University for the Design for Industry program, graduating with a first.
Sara draws inspiration from nature in her pieces and utilizes both hand fabrication and CAD. She uses gemstones throughout her pieces to reflect the colours in the natural world. She continues to explore different themes and techniques as she evolves.
Instagram @earthly.sara sarawilkinson1229@gmail.com
Aurora Stevens is a designer based in Dundee and Edinburgh. She grew up in and
around nature, which led her to have an affinity to the natural elements. Growing crops from a young age inspired a visual connection between plants and food, which
transformed into passions for cooking.
Her awe of nature developed into a hunger for environmental justice, which grounds
both her portfolio and academic writing. Her dissertation investigated pathways for
wasted biomatter within the current global agricultural industry. Her respect for nature has propelled her degree show works and continues to drive the development of her practices.
Juliet Hardwicke began studying jewellery making almost thirty years ago at Morley College in London. Moving to New York in 2014 she learnt enamelling at Manhattan’s JCC, and on arrival in Edinburgh in 2021 took a foundation course in jewellery design at SilverHub
Studios. This summer she graduated with First-Class Honours in Silversmithing and
Jewellery Design from Glasgow School of Art.
Inspired by her love of gardening and being in nature, Juliet’s collection of sculptural
jewellery and vessels spark conversation while subtly addressing cultural and
environmental issues.
Instagram @juliet_hardwicke_design juliet_hardwicke@yahoo.co.uk
