Birmingham Assay Office
The Birmingham Assay Office is a cornerstone of the UK jewellery trade, providing hallmarking, testing, and certification services that ensure the quality and integrity of precious metal goods. For jewellers, manufacturers, and suppliers, staying informed about its developments is essential to maintaining compliance and understanding industry standards. Jewellery Focus offers in-depth coverage on the Birmingham Assay Office, including regulatory updates, innovations in testing and hallmarking, and its role in supporting the jewellery sector’s operational and ethical standards.
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Aug- 2014 -20 AugustTrade Organisations
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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13 AugustEconomy
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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Jul- 2014 -17 JulyEconomy
14ct gold surges 60% in June hallmarking figures
Rising hallmarking figures showed no signs of slowing in June with the four UK assay offices reporting a 60.1% rise in the number of 14ct articles hallmarked, and a 17.1% rise for gold overall, compared with June 2013. But whilst the total number of articles hallmarked across all categories rose…
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May- 2014 -15 MayEconomy
April hallmarking figures up by a fifth, 9ct gold up almost 50%
Figures released by The Birmingham Assay Office have revealed that the total number of articles hallmarked for April increased by 20.3 per cent on last year. The figures, which reflect the flows through four UK assay offices, showed the strongest performing metal category was once again 9 carat gold, which…
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15 MayRetailers
Birmingham jeweller fined £25,000 for breach of Hallmarking Act
A Birmingham jeweller was sentenced to eight months’ imprisonment earlier this week, suspended for 18 months, and ordered to pay a total of £25,000 after pleading guilty to 17 offences, under the Hallmarking Act 1973. Amjad Mahmood Yousif, trading as Crown Jewellers at 39 Formans Road, Sparkhill, was ordered to…
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7 MayTrade Organisations
Ground broken on new Birmingham Assay Office site
Birmingham Assay Office bosses joined members of their building project team to begin work on the site of the new building at Icknield Street last week. The Assay Office has been at its current home in Newhall Street since 1877, and says that the move within the Jewellery Quarter “demonstrates…
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2 MayAnalysis
FEATURE: The End of the Gold Rush
The gold price has stabilised, and the slump in gold hallmarking has bottomed out. And now that the commodity traders are losing interest, MICHAEL NORTHCOTT asks whether the scrap-buying craze has caused any lasting change to the market. Two very significant trends have appeared that will likely have a profound…
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Apr- 2014 -7 AprilEconomy
Q1 hallmarking figures rise 23%, gold jewellery on the up-and-up
The number of articles hallmarked across the four UK assay offices rose by 23 per cent in the first three months of 2014 compared with the same period the previous year, according to the latest figures. In a statement, the Birmingham Assay Office revealed that the best performers were 9ct…
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Mar- 2014 -14 MarchEconomy
Hallmarking figures for 9ct gold rise more than 33%
Figures released today by the Birmingham Assay Office show that the number of 9ct gold items hallmarked across all four UK assay offices rose more than 33% in February, compared with the same period the previous year. After 9ct gold, the next best performing category was sterling silver, which is…
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Jan- 2014 -14 JanuaryCurrent Affairs
BAO announce 1.9% decline in hallmarking
Hallmarking has dropped 1.9 per cent on last year according to The Birmingham Assay Office 2013 hallmarking figures. The decline, compared to figures for 2012, show that the four UK Assay Offices hallmarked 9,156,858 articles in 2013 compared to 9,331,451 the previous year. This slight drop however is an improvement…
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