Myriam Soselios of MyriamSOS and Zeemou Zeng picked up the big jewellery design awards at last night’s UK Jewellery Awards 2020, hosted by industry magazine Retail Jeweller. 

Myriam was awarded Jewellery Designer of the Year for her innovative work with her brand MyriamSos. In recent years, Myriam has pushed design boundaries with technically challenging precious jewels. One such piece is the HeatWave Sinuous gem-set ring, launched at The Jewellery Cut Live in February, that can be stretched to become a bracelet or necklace, but when dropped in hot water will revert to its original shape. She is also one of the first jewellers to work with new element osmium, a by-product of platinum mining.

“Myriam is a one-of-a-kind designer who seeks out the world’s rarest metals and spends months, if not years, perfecting each little element of her designs,” said one UK Jewellery Awards judge. “She plays with shape in fantastically weird ways, but that’s what makes her great.”

MyriamSos gold, lab-grown diamond and lab-grown sapphire Jagged pendant

Zeemou, who has also shown his work at The Jewellery Cut Live, picked up Young Designer of the Year. The judging panel praised his use of movement in his designs. His Melody collection features round gemstones held within gold cases that clack from side to side when worn.  Zeemou followed up this debut with The Eye collection, and has enjoyed various industry accolades including being selected for The Goldsmiths’ Fair and partnering with Fuli Gemstones on a peridot jewellery collaboration that saw his work exhibited in China for the first time this year.

“Zeemou Zeng is able to capture unique design concepts in wearable designs with real commercial appeal,” said one of the judges. “His statement ‘showstopper pieces’ are uniquely his own.”

The judging panel for Jewellery Designer of the Year and Young Jewellery Designer of the Year awards included Retail Jeweller editor Ruth Faulkner, London boutique EC One’s co-founder Alison Skeates, The Goldsmiths’ Craft & Design Council’s Anne-Marie Reeves, Jo Henderson of retailer Hill & Hill the Jewellers, the National Association of Jewellers’ Lindsay Straughton and The Jewellery Cut co-founder Rachael Taylor.

Zeemou Zeng 18ct rose gold and pearl Melody earrings

“I was so honoured to be invited to judge both the Designer of the Year and Young Designer of the Year categories at the UK Jewellery Awards 2020,” says The Jewellery Cut co-founder Rachael Taylor. “It has been a hard year for many jewellery designers who were unable to show and launch collections as they usually would, so the Awards were a welcome boost of positivity at the end of the year thanks to the Retail Jeweller team.

“I am also delighted that both the designers who won these awards are jewellers who have taken part in The Jewellery Cut Live. Our shows are winning a reputation as a place to discover emerging fine jewellery talent, and the much-deserved successes of Myriam and Zeemou at this year’s UK Jewellery Awards further cements this. I’d like to offer a heartfelt congratulations to them both, and I can’t wait to see what they come up with in 2021.”

For the first time in its history, the UK Jewellery Awards was held digitally, with more than 500 people logging on to show support and celebrate the successes of the British jewellery industry in 2020.

The MyriamSos team at The Jewellery Cut Live in February 2019

For a full list of winners and nominees and winners of the UK Jewellery Awards 2020, head to the Retail Jeweller website