Birmingham, England — Kirsty Griffiths’ delight was evident as she wore a pair of 22-karat gold bands, which were redesigned from her grandfather’s weighty wedding ring.
“One for me and my own wedding and one for my aunt,” said 31-year-old Ms. Griffith recently inside a cramped jewelry workshop here. “My grandfather left the original for them.”
The rings are now anchor shaped Birmingham Assay Office Hallmark certifying the purity of gold and the LL symbol of their manufacturer, Lora Leadham.
Ms. Leedum, 35, is part of a generation of independent craftspeople working with large heritage companies in the gentrifying neighborhood known as the Jewelery Quarter, a hub for makers since the 18th century.
The Visitor’s Guide says that about 40 percent of all jewelry made in the UK today is made quarterly (though no one interviewed for this article could confirm that number). But many in Britain consider the neighborhood – which spans some 270 acres in this multicultural city of more than 1.1 million in the West Midlands region – worth a visit for shopping for bespoke items like weddings and engagement rings.
ns Jewelery Quarter Development Trust, a group working to revive the quarter, estimates that more than 800 jewelry-related businesses operate in the region, including more than 100 retail stores. They employ 4,000 people, according to Ben Massey, the marketing director of National Association of Jewelers, whichever is based here.
trustworthy heritage walking trail Guides visitors through a mix of old and new storefronts and other points of historic interest. wing Museum of the Jewelery QuarterIn addition, visitors can reserve “time capsule” tours that show the museum’s two-story, Victorian red brick building as it was on the day in 1981 when the Smith & Pepper Jewelery Company closed after more than 80 years at the site Was.
quarter is also home school of jewelery, founded in 1890 and now part of Birmingham City University, states that the school’s annual 400-to-500-student enrollment makes it the largest such school in Europe.
But the quarter is changing, with trendy hotels and organic-food cafes coming up and empty brick warehouses being turned into luxury apartments, leading many jewelers to worry that business is being pushed. Because spaces are salvaged or renovated and rents inevitably increase.
ns trust website, for example, illustrates the developer’s project to convert a parking lot into “an all-new neighborhood including a 39-storey tower”, totaling £258 million, or $358 million. Another developer called Gothic and Neighboring Buildings is converting an abandoned pub into apartments, a restaurant and a boutique hotel, describing the project’s marketing as a “commercial/creative space” occupied by “local and independent trades”. has gone. It is done.
A Birmingham City Council spokesperson issued a statement saying: “We welcome investment and new development in Birmingham, and the Council is committed to achieving inclusive growth that benefits everyone in all of our communities. Will continue to do everything possible to ensure this through our participation in the ongoing regeneration of other parts of the city.
Ms. Leedum has refrained from moving, at least for now.
“I don’t have a big shiny, posh workshop,” she said. “I have a dusty, Victorian workshop with history and memories and broken windows and people who love it love it because it’s authentic and I believe that’s how it should be. II Handicrafts everything; it’s also massively important.”
The jeweler said he was taught “the old fashioned way, with a saw and a file.” His wooden workbench is covered with tools: files, hammers, tweezers, burrs for drilling, a domed block for shaping metal, and a gas flame. “The bench belonged to the jeweler himself who was here 40 years before me and it must be 100 years old,” he said.
But the building where she has been making jewelery since 2006 has a new owner. Luckily, she said, the company is “moving us upstairs to the new workshops and says they’ll keep the rent the same for the next two years. They’ve been really kind.”
Being in the quarter has also been important for the independent producer. James Newman, 45, who started out by selling pieces at art fairs and trade shows, but now has several employees in his workshop and a stunning ground-level retail showroom.
“When people come through our doors, we look and feel a little different – like a restaurant where you can watch the food being cooked,” he said during an interview with his dog, Fudge. “You can see that we have a workshop. You can hear the workshop.”
“More people are more interested in a piece, which makes more sense than buying it off-the-shelf,” he said. “They love to know that someone has created a piece for or with them. They love to know who that person is. I really like the fact that you can be a part of someone’s story. “
Mr Newman, who spent three years at Birmingham Jewelery School, described his designs as “a little more rustic, a little more bohemian, a little more ‘off the ground’. Some pieces look like they’re 1,000 years old, but we Just made it this week.”
A display case consists of a ring-like piece with a textured, hand-forged platinum band and a pear-shaped gray diamond. Another held a silver pendant welded to the surface with 18 karat yellow gold. Prices for items on display range from £380 a. was for Tourmalet Quartz Birthstone Ring 2 Carat. £10,500. up to salt and pepper diamond And a platinum ring.
“If you’re looking for a classic design, like a four-legged Tiffany-esque ring with white diamonds, the Jewelry Quarter is great because every store has the same design and they’re competing on price. are,” he said. “But for those who come through our door, it becomes clear very quickly that we are not just buying stuff; We’re not building anything on a large scale.”
Mr. Newman looks at the pros and cons of changes in the quarter. “Twenty years ago very few people lived here, it was very industrial,” he said. “Now it’s a nicer place to live. More bars, more restaurants, more night scenes. Twenty years ago after 5 p.m. you’d be quite worried about walking down some streets.”
Still, he finds it “disappointing” that many of the quarter’s older buildings are not being maintained, “then developers will come in and put up a facade and build 600 flats behind it.”
For independent producers who don’t have street-level display windows like Mr. Newman, word of mouth is especially important. Kate Smith, 43, whose first workspace was in her parents’ garage but whose studio is now one floor above Mr. Newman’s, specializes in nature-inspired designs for alternative wedding, engagement and eternity rings.
“We’re hidden behind the scenes, so you wouldn’t necessarily know we’re here,” she said, “but I love it. It makes the customer journey even more special for them.”
She couldn’t imagine not working this quarter, she said. “This is the busiest year for me. We have a lot of gem suppliers and metal dealers here, so it’s convenient to be massive. It has changed, but it feels like you are part of the fabric of the sector.” .
For couples who want to make their own wedding band, there is Quarter Workshop, moderated by Victoria Delany, 39. held in a studio inside a former coffin factory and museum now, the material costs over £480 over the course of a day, which can range from £65 for a thin 9-karat gold band to over £600 for a chunky 18-karat gold band.
Her workshop is on a busy street in new construction and, she said, “there’s an underlying feeling that maybe some trades are being pushed out of the area and something else is happening.”
And the environment has already changed in some ways, she said. “When you walk around the quarter, you can see a lot of storefronts selling very similar things,” she said, “a kind of ‘we’ll beat any price’ kind of style that doesn’t tell you the whole story. It is the quarter and the artisans here.”
Some of the big legacy brands still certainly remain.
Henry Deakin, 39, is the managing director and a member of the seventh generation of the family Deakin and Francis. Its factory, which specialized in men’s accessories such as enamel cuff links and gold signet rings, still operates in the building where it was established in 1786.
“We are an iceberg here,” he said. “There are not many other British manufacturers left in the jewelry quarter like us.”
The company says that 25 percent of its £3.5 million annual turnover comes from the United States, working with brands such as Bergdorf Goodman, Tiffany & Co and Ralph Lauren. It also produces for British and European names such as Asprey, Garrard and Cartier.
Nevertheless, change is in the air. “There used to be 250 people in this building,” Mr. Deakin said. “We’re 26 now, so it’s just low. But we’re having a really good time, we’re busy.”
The company has opened a retail store at Piccadilly Arcade in the St James’s neighborhood of London; Plans to launch new line of women’s gem jewelery in September; And within 18 months Mr. Deakin hopes to open a “behind the scene” visitor center.
Gentrification “is a hot topic at the moment,” he said. “It would be wise for us to sell our building tomorrow, to move out somewhere, to have a purpose-built, very clever factory.
“But that’s not really what we’re about. We’re lucky to own our own building, although it’s tempting when developers start giving out silly numbers. Our heritage and history are here and I think That if we move on we will lose that attraction. Once it’s gone, it’s gone.”
And there are plenty of reasons to stay, he said: “The exam office is just around the corner; The artisans here are local. What will happen in 10 or 20 years, I cannot say. This building is a little damp, a little dusty, but this is our home.”