PRESS RELEASE: Glasgow student’s hurricane ring selected for Digital Jewelry Week

Stephanie McQuillan, a jewellery design student at Glasgow Kelvin College, is the only Scottish student exhibiting at this year’s Digital Jewelry Week in Milan, and is in the running for its Student Prize.

A ring inspired by the power of a hurricane has earned a Glasgow jewellery student a place at Digital Jewelry Week 2026, the international digital jewellery exhibition based in Milan and supported by GemGenève.

Stephanie McQuillan’s piece, Acts of God – Deluge & Flow, is on show at the exhibition, which runs from 18 to 25 October. She is the only Scottish student taking part.

The ring captures the energy of a storm in swirling, molten-looking metal, with a single blue topaz at its centre as the calm eye. McQuillan also designed a sculptural stand for the piece. When the ring is placed on it, the whole piece becomes an eye, a symbol of the “Eye of God” watching over the tempest.

The stand reflects a wider idea behind her work. “My aim was jewellery that functions as art when it isn’t being worn,” she said.

That sculptural approach has already been recognised this year. McQuillan was recently highly commended in the Scottish Geological Association’s Alan Hodgkin Award 2026 for a piece in a similar sculptural style.

Digital Jewelry Week brings together brands, designers and students, with entries presented digitally. Its awards include Jewel of the Year and a Student Prize. Results are decided half by a jury of five and half by public vote, and the winning student piece will be produced and showcased at GemGenève 2027.

Public voting is open until midnight on Sunday 25 October.

McQuillan’s selection has also been covered by the Glasgow Times.

See the entry: Acts of God – Deluge & Flow
Vote: digitaljewelryweek.com/award