Autumn Talks at The Goldsmiths’ Centre

12 October 2026 / The Jeweller and Time with Rachel Church
Time: 6pm – 7pm (UK time)
Price: Pay what you can (£7 or £10)
Venue: Online (via Zoom)
Ticket link: https://goldsmiths-centre.digitickets.co.uk/event-tickets/80073?branches.branchID=1386

Jewellery has long been used to capture, mark and reflect the passing of time, from memorial jewels preserving memories of people and events to ingenious watches and miniature timepieces incorporated into adornment.
Join curator, writer and jewellery historian Rachel Church as she explores the many ways craftspeople have worked with ideas of time. The talk considers objects designed to endure for centuries alongside ephemeral pieces intended to fade away, leaving only memory.
Church has written and lectured widely on jewellery history and design and is the author of Rings and Brooches and Badges. She previously worked as a curator at the Victoria and Albert Museum and was part of the team that redeveloped the William and Judith Bollinger Jewellery Gallery.


19 October 2026 / Rings that Rock: Diamond Rings from the Fifteenth Century to Today with Catherine Regout
Time: 6pm – 7pm
Price: Pay what you can (£7 or £10)
Venue: Online (via Zoom), UK time
Ticket link: https://www.goldsmiths-centre.org/whats-on/redirect/995/

Why has the diamond ring become such an enduring symbol of love, status and personal expression?
Join Catherine Regout, Curator at DIVA Museum in Antwerp, for an exploration of the history and changing meanings of diamond-set rings, drawing on research behind the museum’s current exhibition Rings That Rock.
Moving from medieval signet rings to contemporary jewellery, Regout will introduce objects whose stories encompass political power, religious devotion, social standing and romantic attachment, revealing the complex histories behind their brilliance.


20 October 2026 / Creative Links: Understanding the Customer Behind the Purchase
Date: 20 October 2026
Time: 6pm – 8pm (UK time)
Price: Pay what you can (£7 or £10)
Venue: Online (via Zoom)
Ticket link: https://www.goldsmiths-centre.org/whats-on/redirect/990/

Who is your customer, and what really motivates them to buy from you?
In this practical Creative Links session, business coach, trained jeweller and former luxury brand director Elizabeth Galton explores how designer-makers and creative businesses can build a clearer understanding of their customers and use it to make stronger decisions around product development, pricing, branding, storytelling and marketing.
The session will introduce approaches to building customer personas, identifying motivations and purchasing triggers, segmenting audiences and recognising high-value and repeat customers. Participants will leave with practical tools to develop three to five customer personas and translate those insights into stronger brand and business decisions.
There will be time to network at the beginning of the event and an opportunity to ask questions following the presentation.


9 November 2026 / Trust Your Instinct: The Medals of Danuta Solowiej
Time: 6pm – 8pm in person / 6.30pm – 7.30pm online
Price: £15 in person (includes a glass of wine or soft drink) / £7 online
Venue: The Goldsmiths’ Centre, 42 Britton Street, London EC1M 5AD / Online (via Zoom)
Ticket link: https://www.goldsmiths-centre.org/whats-on/redirect/1004/

What role does instinct play in an artist’s practice?
In this talk held in collaboration with the British Art Medal Society, Polish-born artist and medallist Danuta Solowiej traces her creative journey through the intimate form of the art medal, exploring the moments when instinct has been identified, challenged or embraced.
Drawing on a career spanning sculpture, modelling, polychromy and medallic art, Solowiej will share the creative thinking and collaboration behind selected commissions and projects and consider their relationship to her broader practice.
Her work is represented in major collections including the British Museum, the V&A and the Goldsmiths’ Company Collection, and in 2023 she received The Marsh Award for her contribution to the Encouragement of Medallic Art.


16 November 2026 / Patrick Grant: On Why Less can be More – Findings from the Fashion Industry
Time: 6pm – 8pm
Price: £20 (includes a glass of wine or soft drink)
Venue: The Goldsmiths’ Centre, 42 Britton Street, London EC1M 5AD
Ticket link: https://www.goldsmiths-centre.org/whats-on/redirect/1003/

What can the jewellery industry learn from fashion about promoting quality over quantity and placing greater value on craftsmanship?
Join clothier, businessman and The Great British Sewing Bee judge Patrick Grant for a conversation exploring consumption, production and why choosing fewer, better things might offer an alternative to the culture of disposability.
Drawing on the research behind his book Less: Stop Buying So Much Rubbish: How Having Fewer, Better Things Can Make Us Happier, Grant will consider how lessons from fashion can be applied to the challenges facing a fairer and more sustainable jewellery industry.
He will be joined in conversation by jeweller and sustainability advocate Jos Skeates, Co-Founder and Director of EC One, and Charlotte Dew, Head of Public Programmes at the Goldsmiths’ Centre. Patrick will sign copies of Less following the talk.