Birmingham

Birmingham has a rich heritage as a centre for jewellery manufacturing and trade, with its historic Jewellery Quarter still home to hundreds of workshops and businesses. For UK jewellers, wholesalers, and suppliers, the city remains a vital hub for production, design, and distribution. Jewellery Focus covers Birmingham’s role in the industry, from updates on local businesses and manufacturing trends to insights into policy developments and events shaping the trade. Our reporting helps professionals understand the city’s continuing influence on the UK jewellery sector.

Jun- 2015 -

10 June

Designers

Tom Davis

Weston Beamor launches ‘Staffordshire Hoard’ collection

Birmingham casting house and CAD specialist Weston Beamor has released a collection of jewellery based on ‘The Staffordshire Hoard’. The Hoard is a collection of over 4,000 Anglo-Saxon treasure objects in gold and silver which was found in a field near Lichfield, Staffordshire, in 2009. The pieces are now jointly…
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5 June

Advice

Michael Northcott

Hallmarking: What You Need To Know

Some jewellers have been in the news recently for falling foul of the Hallmarking Act – and they have faced legal repercussions as a result. We spoke to Trading Standards in Birmingham to find out exactly what jewellers’ obligations are to make sure they do not breach the rules. If…
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May- 2015 -

13 May

Trade Organisations

Tom Davis

NAG and BJA to host unification meetings

The National Association of Goldsmiths (NAG) and the British Jewellers Association (BJA) have announced they will host two members’ meetings to discuss the planned unification of the two organisations. The trade bodies have written to their members inviting them to attend a members day where both will be making presentations to…
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13 May

Economy

Tom Davis

Hallmarking figures up 10% in April

The total number of hallmarked articles grew 10% in April following a disappointing March, according to new figures released from all four of the UK’s assay offices. According to the data, which was compiled by the Birmingham Assay Office , there was a total of 810,831 articles hallmarked in April…
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Apr- 2015 -

2 April

Crime

Tom Davis

Birmingham jewellers fined over unhallmarked gold

A Birmingham jewellery firm has been ordered to pay a total of £8,288 after it was found to be selling unhallmarked gold. Yousaf Jewellers, based in Coventry Road, Small Heath in Birmingham, was fined £500 for each offence (£6,500), ordered to pay costs of £1,738 and a £50 victim surcharge…
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1 April

Trade Organisations

Michael Northcott

Marked feature bricks laid in new BAO premises

The new premises currently being constructed for the Birmingham Assay Office this weekend saw the addition of several ‘feature bricks’, bearing key hallmarking symbols used during the office’s 240 years in operation. The marks include the traditional hallmarking symbols; a lion for sterling silver, crown for gold, orb for platinum and Pallas…
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Mar- 2015 -

25 March

Crime

Michael Northcott

Jeweller fined £70k over hallmarking

A Birmingham jeweller was today sentenced to 10 weeks imprisonment and ordered to pay more than £70,000 after pleading guilty to 21 offences under the Hallmarking Act 1973 and Trade Marks Act 1994. Umran Rafiq, trading as Asian Jewellers based in Alum Rock Road, Alum Rock, was ordered to pay…
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11 March

Events

Tom Davis

Weston Beamor designer wins ‘Gem-A Award’ for second year running

Joanna Fronczak-Jabbal, a CAD (computer-aided design) designer at Birmingham casting house and 3D printing company, Weston Beamor, has won the Gem-A Gold Award for the second consecutive year. The award, from the Gemmological Association of Great Britain, was awarded to Fronczak-Jabbal at the Goldsmiths’ Craft and Design Council Awards which…
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11 March

Economy

Tom Davis

Hallmarking figures climb in February

The total number of articles hallmarked across all four of the UK’s assay offices saw a 7.9% increase in February, compared with the same month last year. According to the data (compiled by the Birmingham Assay Office), there was a total of 55,419 more articles hallmarked in February this year…
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2 March

Events

Tom Davis

Weston Beamor to sponsor award at ‘New Designers’

Weston Beamor, the Birmingham-based jewellery casting and 3D printing company, has announced that it will once again be sponsoring an award at the New Designers annual exhibition. The Weston Beamor award for ‘the most innovative use of CAD in jewellery design’ will be made during the first day of the…
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