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A new jewellery gallery has announced it will launch in Birmingham’s historic Jewellery Quarter later this year.
The Guildsman Jewellery Gallery is expected to open in spring 2016 and will provide 1,000 sq ft of retail and exhibition space across two floors. It will display pieces of handmade fine jewellery and silverware from independent jewellery designers.
The gallery, which has been created by independent fine jewellers Sarah Leighton and Mark Hampson, aims to accommodate up to 50 designers at full capacity.
It will have three consultation areas, including the ‘Makers Lounge’, along with residential work benches to allow craftspeople to directly engage with the consumer.
Leighton said: “I honestly don’t think there has ever been anything like this in the Jewellery Quarter before.
“We knew we were going to have to make a statement and I hope that’s what we have achieved. Everyone is aware of the push to move all sales online at the moment, but jewellery is a very special purchase, it should come with a little retail theatre.”
The gallery will work on a 0% sales commission and will instead charge designers an annual fee, which it said will be comparable to “the price of a stand at a high end jewellery fair”.
