Year: 2014

Birmingham Assay Office receives £70,900 grant

The Birmingham Assay Office (BAO) has received a grant of £70,900 from the Heritage Lottery Fund.  The grant aims to help the Assay Office bring collections dating back to the 18th Century into the digital age. Collection articles include private silver, coin and metal collections that chronicle the changes in…

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London Diamond Bourse launches diamond stock platform

London Diamond Bourse (LDB) members can now search goods from fellow members in the latest unveiling on their website. The bourse’s initiative is the latest development in the its plans for “enhancing membership value”. Chief operating officer, Victoria McKay, said: “It’s a radical move to enhance and dovetail with the traditional…

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Endless Jewelry’s new investors are a magic bullet…if it were needed

They always say ‘growing too fast’ can be the ruin of a business, and the former Pandora-man, Danish Jesper Nielsen, has obviously heard this too, as it has been announced that Endless Jewelry has raised significant investment capital by selling 23% of the business to some external investors. Realistically, it is…

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Ortak reopens following £136,000 grant

Ortak has reopened its shop in Kirkwall town centre, Orkney, after receiving a £136,400 grant from the Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE).  Earlier this year it was announced that Ortak had gone into administration and manufacturing ceased at the Hatston factory with redundancies made after the company failed to find…

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Drakes Group announces plans for expansion

Drakes Group has announced plans to expand its Plymouth store this year, taking over four units in the Drake Circus Shopping Centre.  The family-run business has announced the opening of its “all new Drakes Store” on the first floor of the shopping centre, located alongside Next. The shop will occupy…

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Thomas Sabo announces flagship London store

Thomas Sabo has announced plans to open a new flagship London store on South Molton Street, in the heart of London’s West End.  Scheduled to open in late October, the 120sqm store will be located at the Brook Street end of South Molton Street in one of its anchor sites.…

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UK gold demand increases by 21%, says World Gold Council

UK demand from gold rose by 21% in the second quarter of this year, compared with the same period the previous year according to the World Gold Council’s latest figures. On a global scale, Q2 represents more than half of total annual demand for gold.  Highlights from WGC’s report: Jewellery: Second…

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Endless Jewelry sells 23% stake to raise investment capital

Jewellery brand Endless has received financial backing from a group of investors, including co-founder and CEO of Saxo Bank, Lars Seier Christensen. The investors will own 23.55% of the business.  Endless was founded in 2013 by Jesper Nielsen, a Danish entrepreneur and former CEO of KasiGroup, a reseller of Pandora…

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Tools left to journalist by craftsman’s legacy prompt change of direction

A chance encounter with a silversmith and an inherited box of tools has prompted a former journalist to retrain as a jeweller. Despite a successful career in politics and journalism, Thierry Kelaart, 31, said  she has always been destined to be a jeweller following a ‘fascinating meeting’ with a gifted silversmith when…

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July hallmarking rises 9.4%, gold carries poor performers

July 2014 showed a continued growth trajectory in gold hallmarking figures, with 9ct gold rising 28.1%, and 14ct and 18ct gold increasing 30% and 22.3%, compared with July 2013. But the figures, collated from the UK’s four major assay offices by the Birmingham Assay Office, showed a mixed picture for…

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