A Mermaid's Tale - The Big Reveal!
From Sketch to Silver: The Charlotte Cornelius Design Award 2026 Presentation Evening
What a wonderful evening we had celebrating the Charlotte Cornelius Design Award 2026 and, most importantly, everyone who took part!
Kirsty Troughton’s beautiful design - ‘A Mermaid’s Tale’, was chosen as the winning design from the incredible entries. The competition, created as part of the Portsmouth100 celebrations, invited people of all ages and backgrounds to respond to the brief “What Does Portsmouth Mean To Me?” through jewellery design.
The presentation evening was the exciting final chapter - when Kirsty’s design was finally revealed as a finished, handcrafted piece of silver jewellery.
A Very Special Portsmouth Evening
We were delighted to welcome our entrants, finalists, their families and friends, clients and special guests to our Southsea Boutique & Workshop. We were particularly honoured to welcome the Lord Mayor, Councillor Abdul Kadir and Lady Mayoress Mrs Tahmina Kadir, who joined us to unveil and present Kirsty’s finished necklace. Kirsty finally got to see ‘A Mermaid’s Tale’ transformed from her original design into a real piece of jewellery - she was absolutely thrilled and it was exactly as she had hoped. Kirsty wore it straight away and it looked great on her!
Celebrating Every Designer
With fizz and canapés flowing, guests had the opportunity to mingle, meet the team and see all of the competition entries together. Every one of the entries had a story behind it. Some were inspired by Portsmouth’s history and heritage, others by the sea, memories, people and places - and each designer interpreted the brief in their own completely individual way. One of the things we loved most was seeing such a fantastic mix of people sharing their stories. We even welcomed a family where mum, dad and their four-year-old daughter had all entered the competition - an absolute delight and a perfect example of what the Award was intended to encourage: creativity for everyone.
If you haven’t already seen the collection, we would love you to take a look. It is a wonderful snapshot of the creativity, character and imagination of our Portsmouth community.
From Illustration to Jewellery Piece...
Once Kirsty’s design had been chosen, she came into our Southsea Workshop to sit with Charlotte and explore how her original idea could be transformed into a wearable piece of jewellery. Kirsty had a very clear vision for her mermaid-inspired design, but there were a number of practical details to consider when turning a drawing into a piece that would be handcrafted in silver.
Bespoke Jewellery
One of the first decisions was size. Kirsty wanted to be able to wear her necklace every day, so we worked together to create a delicate piece measuring just 24mm in diameter. We also discussed a couple of subtle design adaptations to make the finished necklace both beautiful and practical.
From there, we explored the different levels, layers and textures within Kirsty’s original design, considering how these could be brought to life through different techniques, incorporating a combination of frosted, polished and black oxidised finishes, carefully chosen to highlight the three-dimensional shapes.
This is one of the fascinating parts of transforming an idea into handmade jewellery. A drawing can suggest texture and dimension, but it is through craftsmanship that those details really come alive, giving Kirsty a very special piece that she can treasure and wear for years to come.
Bespoke Jewellery
Bringing Ideas to Life Through Jewellery
For us, this is at the heart of what we do at Charlotte Cornelius Jewellery. We believe jewellery can be so much more than something beautiful to wear. The most special pieces can hold memories, tell stories and represent something deeply personal.
Kirsty’s ‘A Mermaid’s Tale’ began as an idea on paper. Through conversation, design development and traditional Goldsmithing, it became a completely unique piece of handmade jewellery - created especially for her. That same journey is at the heart of our Bespoke Jewellery experience.
Whether you have a fully formed idea, a treasured piece of jewellery you would like to transform, or simply a feeling, memory or story that you would love to turn into something tangible, our team can work with you to develop your ideas into a piece that is uniquely yours.
Our Bespoke jewellery is designed and handmade in our onsite workshop in the heart of Southsea, Portsmouth, where our Designers and Goldsmiths work together to bring your ideas to life.
Book a Bespoke Appointment with Charlotte and the team to start your own jewellery journey.
A Huge Thank You
A heartfelt thank you to everyone who entered the Charlotte Cornelius Design Award 2026, to our five finalists, to everyone who voted, and to all of our wonderful guests who came along to celebrate with us.
It has been a privilege to take her idea from sketch to silver - and an absolute joy to see her wearing the finished piece. Here’s to creativity, imagination, Portsmouth and the wonderful stories that can be told through jewellery.
