Jewellery & Watch News
Like the British Bake Off but for jewellery makers, the new All That Glitters show on BBC 2 has been met with decisive success after just two episodes. The series sees eight British jewellers judged by two of the leading names in the business. One of these being our very good friend, Shaun Leane.
British jewellery making is booming, with hundreds and thousands of independent manufacturers working across the country to decorate our outfits and bodies with mouth-watering gemstones set into precious metals. The new BBC 2 show, All That Glitters, witnesses eight of these lucky individuals compete on screen and face several challenges set by judges Shaun Leane and Solange Azagury-Partridge and host Katherine Ryan. The show is set – rather suitably in the historic Jewellery Quarter in Birmingham and is on air on BBC Two at 8pm from 13 April, for six consecutive weeks on a Tuesday evening.
Who is Shaun Leane?
Four-time winner of the UK Jewellery Designer of the Year award, Shaun Leane is no stranger to exceptional British jewellery manufacture. He was born at the bench in London’s jewellery quarter, Hatton Garden where at the age of 15 he became an apprentice in diamond mounting and antique restoration. High levels of skill and attention to detail were a must in such an environment, and it was here that Shaun Leane quickly understood the importance of technical education in an atelier.
In 1992, a year after completing his apprenticeship, a mutual friend introduced Leane to Lee Alexander McQueen, who was instantly impressed by the pieces he was working on. McQueen asked Shaun Leane to create some Victorian-style silver fob watch chains for his fourth post-college show. From that day, their united passion for craftsmanship and detail made them both catwalk sensations in the art of couture jewellery and the history of runway fashion.
It wasn’t long before Shaun Leane’s unwavering commitment to British design had him collaborating with a huge variety of celebrities and designers including Daphne Guinness, Nick Knight, Boucheron, Damien Hirst and more. But most notably, Shaun Leane and Alexander McQueen worked together for over 17 years right up until McQueen’s death in 2010. Shaun Leane was behind some of his most notable catwalk pieces including the ‘Jaw Bone’ mouthpiece worn by several male models during his Spring/Summer 1998 show. This mutually inspirational collaboration acted as a catalyst to Leane’s growing quest to blend technical perfection with creative freedom and ultimately led to the launch of his first Shaun Leane jewellery collection in 1999.
To this day, many of the pieces Shaun Leane created for Alexander McQueen are reflected in his modern-day works from predatory animal references in the Shaun Leane Sabre Fine collection to the iconic ‘Joan’ headdress showing itself in the Shaun Leane Cherry Blossom collection. There is a huge and stunning range of Shaun Leane collections to see, and we highly recommend that you take the time to browse through them yourself. The impeccable hand-craftsmanship remains central to the brand’s ethos and each and every day, the British jewellery manufacturer seems to push the boundaries of classic design a bit further to ensure an unforgettable and enduring legacy.
If you’d like to shop some of Shaun Leane’s latest collections, you can find them here on the C W Sellors website. Don’t forget to tune in to BB2 this Tuesday evening to watch episode 3 of All That Glitters.
