September 2026
Alistair Audsley joins the panel for the inaugural Birmingham Jewellery Biennial
Alistair Audsley
CEO, THE ALLIANCE



We are here to give British watchmaking a voice and, given how interconnected our homegrown artisanal crafts are, a big part of that is working with our friends in what we call allied trades.
As part of that, the Alliance of British Watch and Clockmakers is actually a founding partner in the British Jewellery Council. And it’s in that capacity that we’ve been working with colleagues across Jewellery, Goldsmithing, Silversmithing and others to represent a major industry worth over £10 billion to the UK economy.

After all, while British watchmaking – at least in its current form – may be relatively new, jewellery, silversmithing and goldsmithing have been integral to British crafts for centuries, all of which come together in the inaugural Birmingham Jewellery Biennial.

Held across the month of May at the landmark Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery every two years, the debut 2027 edition is set to bring together dazzling creations from across the UK. Even the local Staffordshire Hoard will pale in comparison. And somehow, it’s up to a panel of 12 jurors to decide which creations pass muster – including the Alliance’s own founding CEO, Alistair Audsley.
He’ll be in good company. The panel includes the likes of designer Hannah Martin, journalist and author Rachael Taylor and Mimi Hoppen, Global Director of Jewellery & Watches at Dover Street Market. In short, it’s the good and great of the British jewellery world with decades of expertise behind them.

They’ll need that expertise as entries are being invited from an Open Call for the Biennial. This means that any jewellery artist from across the UK can submit their work for consideration and a chance to win not just bragging rights, but thousands of pounds in potential winnings.

It doesn’t matter if they’ve been making haute joaillerie for decades or have just finished a first piece, prefer precious metals and gemstones or glass and textiles - anyone can apply.
“By having an Open Call for the flagship exhibition at BMAG,” explains exhibition curator Sophie Morris, “we aim to celebrate the excellence, creativity and innovation at the heart of jewellery-making today. Makers at every career stage are eligible to apply — from students to internationally recognised names — giving them a platform inside a major civic museum, at a moment when Birmingham has recently been recognised as a World Craft City for Jewellery and Allied Trades. Across the festival we will be able to show the breadth of skill and material knowledge that exists in UK jewellery, and to bring new audiences into an extraordinary world that too often stays behind closed doors within the trade.”
That variety will be made all the more startling by the inaugural edition's theme: colour. Colour is something that British watches have embraced over the last decade and here the possibilities are even more exciting. Colours can evoke emotions, convey deep meanings and offer a new lens by which we can not only experience art and design, but artisan craft itself.

As Sophie puts it, “Colour is a theme that is expansive enough to tell a range of stories about the joy of making and wearing jewellery as well as the different materials used and symbolic meanings associated with jewellery. It also allows makers show us what excites them the most about a focused area within their own practice.”

Sure, jewellery and watchmaking are not the same. But a rising tide lifts all boats. And while the tide of British craftsmanship is measurably on the rise, it can go much further. This kind of cross-industry exercise, this way of understanding how each sector of British artisan luxury operates isn’t just important to what we do, it’s central.
"What excites me about this jury is that it's an Open Call and not just a shortlist of established names” says Alistair. “In my sector I've found that some of the most creative British work happens well away from the spotlight — and I suspect the same is true of jewellery. Colour is the perfect provocation, too; it's an area where British watchmaking has taken real risks over the last decade, so I'm fascinated to see how jewellers push it further. Mostly, though, I'm looking forward to looking closely at beautiful things made by hand, which is the best part of this role.”

The Birmingham Jewellery Biennial is a month-long celebration of jewellery, craftsmanship and contemporary design, set across the Jewellery Quarter and the wider city of Birmingham. Co-founded by the Jewellery Quarter Development Trust and Birmingham City University, the inaugural edition runs from 1–31 May 2027, with the flagship exhibition at Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery.

Full details at birminghamjewellerybiennial.com.

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