The COVID-19 pandemic has forced many changes to educators’ teaching approaches. The pandemic has also highlighted the role that technology and the fourth industrial revolution play in the future of tertiary education. Many educators have to adapt to these changes and adopt strategies to benefit the students’ prospective positions in various industries. Computer-aided design (CAD) has revolutionised the jewellery industry, mainly through decreasing production timelines, increasing the accuracy of the pieces, and creating production-ready designs. Initially, the industry was slow to integrate the technology, but it is now widely used in jewellery manufacturing.

The aim of this paper is to examine the perception and validity of commercial design protection in the South African Jewellery Industry and to convey the general consensus regarding the registration of commercial designs. This exploratory study employs quantitative research and information was collated through a questionnaire that was distributed by the Jewellery Council of South Africa. The questionnaire gauged, inter alia, whether South African jewellers are aware of the Designs Act, the design registration process and which commercial designs are registered.

The Platonic notion of idealism, specifically used in the botanical imagery represented inRenaissance paintings is investigated in this paper and compared to the botanical motifs used in Renaissance enamelled jewellery. The same process of idealisation used in Renaissance painting and enamel jewels is applied to South African botanical motifs, which creates a stylistic departure from the botanical images used during the Renaissance.