News
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Nov- 2015 -13 November
Hallmarking figures drop 4.4%
Hallmarking figures fell by 4.4 in October, with gold taking a particular hit. Data compiled from the four UK assay offices by the Birmingham Assay Office showed that the total number of items hallmarked during the period was 1,186,648, down from 1,240,717 last year. Gold was down 3.5%, silver 5.5%, and…
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12 November
Beaverbrooks opens newly refurbished Basingstoke store
Jewellery chain Beaverbrooks opened its new refurbished Beaverbrooks store yesterday, as part of the company’s initiative to invest in local towns and refresh existing stores. The new-look 2,120 sq ft store is located in Festival Place Shopping Centre and was unveiled to the public on Wednesday 11 November at 10am.…
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12 November
‘Blue Moon’ diamond sells for record £31.8m
A blue diamond, formerly known as the ‘Blue Moon Diamond’, has been auctioned for a world record 48.6m Swiss francs (£31.8m). The 12-carat diamond, which was auctioned at Sotheby’s in Geneva yesterday (November 11), beat the previous auction record for any diamond held by The Graff Pink (24.78-carats), which sold…
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11 November
Rare pink diamond sells for record £19m
Auction house Christie’s has sold the largest vivid pink diamond to be offered at auction for a record 28.7m Swiss francs (£19m). The cushion-shaped vivid pink diamond, which was sold yesterday (10 November) at Christie’s Magnificent Jewels auction in Geneva, set a new record for any vivid pink diamond at 16.08…
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11 November
Gang convicted for ‘violent’ jewellery raids in Manchester and London
Three men have been convicted following a string of commercial robberies on jewellery stores and money transfer shops. Over the course of a year the gang targeted seven stores, using rubber blocks and hammers to smash shop windows and steal jewellery from window displays. It is believed that the men…
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10 November
‘Lethal combination’ for UK retailers, says Tesco boss
The chief executive of Tesco, Dave Lewis, has warned that the UK retail sector is facing a “lethal cocktail” of rising costs. Speaking at the CBI’s annual conference, Lewis said rising business rates and the National Living Wage (introduced by George Osborne earlier this year) mean retailers will face an…
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9 November
Retail employment up as number of stores increases
The number of full-time jobs rose by 0.8% in the third quarter of 2015 compared with the same period last year – the fastest rate of growth since March 2014. That is according to the latest British Retail Consortium (BRC) and Bond Dickinson Retail Employment Monitor, which found in the…
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9 November
Military-issue Rolex could fetch £70,000 at auction
A military-issue Rolex wristwatch, originally purchased for under £1,000, could be auctioned for £50,000 to £70,000. The watch was discovered when the BBC’s Antiques Roadshow visited Lincolnshire in early 2015. The owner, who had seen a similar watch valued at a considerable amount more than he’d anticipated, took the timepiece…
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9 November
Britain’s shop vacancy rate falls to its lowest level since June 2010
The number of vacant shops in Britain stayed the same in October when compared with September, a month in which vacant shops fell to their lowest level since April 2010. That is according to the latest figures from the Local Data Company (LDC) which found that shop vacancy in October…
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6 November
Gems of Time to return to SalonQP
Gems of Time, an exhibition celebrating the art and craft of high-jewellery watches, is set to return to SalonQP. Building on the success of its inaugural exhibition last year, Gems of Time: The Art of Colour aims to explore the jewelled watch and will highlight the current mood for unique…
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