Jewellery Quarter - Industry

Industry

Jewellery manufacturers continue work in the area today with there being around 700 jewellery-related businesses in the Quarter. 400 of these are jewellery manufacturers, producing 40% of British jewellery output. Jewellery is produced here for the general public and also for the wholesale and retail trade and the area is said to contain the highest concentration of dedicated jewellers in Europe. Vittoria Street hosts the Jewellery teaching centre for the Birmingham Institute of Art and Design. Many former industrial buildings have been refurbished including the Argent Centre. As a result of regeneration, the Jewellery Quarter has also become home to PR firms, media firms, software companies and developers. It also hosts half of the city's architectural practices.

The silver and gold manufactured in the city during the 19th century and early 20th century was of exceptionally high quality, with its own hallmark. These products are now considered collectibles. In the 19th century, other products such as chains were manufactured. Some chains were produced to be purely ornamental and to be attached to watches. However, some larger chains were manufactured for industrial uses. These chains sometimes contained silver, and rarely gold. Gold chains would sell, on average, for £250,000. The first silver guard chain made in Birmingham was made in 1806. At around the mid-19th century, between 1,500 and 1,600 people were manufactured in the chain-making industry, 500 of which were women.

Another major trade in the Jewellery Quarter and the surrounding area was the pen trade. The Quarter was home to the world's first mass producer of pen nibs which made pens more affordable by reducing the cost by 99.9%. At the industry's peak in the area, 5,000 workers produced 1,500 million pen nibs per year. The area was home to many dip pen manufacturers who played a vital role in the pen trade in the city. During the first half of the 20th century, Swan Pens opened a large gold pen factory in the city, taking advantage of the skilled gold workers of the Jewellery Quarter.

Many sporting awards have been produced in the area and still are today. The trophy awarded to the winners of the Wimbledon Ladies Singles tournament was produced in the area. Thomas Fattorini Ltd. is also based in the area and have designed and made the original FA Cup trophy, and still make the Lonsdale and Commonwealth belts for boxing.

Whistles were pioneered in the Jewellery Quarter, especially by Joseph Hudson who produced the first football referee whistle in 1878 and invented the police whistle in 1883. Hudson whistles are still used by the Metropolitan Police today. Hudson also manufactured whistles for the RMS Titanic, some of which were recovered from the wreck. Around 1,000 million whistles have been made by various companies in the Jewellery Quarter since 1870.

Coffins and coffin parts were also manufactured in the area with the main factory being the Newman Brothers Coffin Furniture Factory. The works were constructed in 1892 to a design by Richard Harley for Newman Brothers, who were brass founders and produced metal coffin fittings. The company manufactured coffin furniture in solid brass, electro-brass, silver plate and nickel plate, and later from resins with oxy-silver, oxy-bronze and oxy-copper finishes. At its peak, it employed 100 people. The company also made shrouds. By the 1950s, the company was exporting their products to Asia, Africa and North America. The company has also produced coffin furniture for the funerals of Sir Winston Churchill, Neville Chamberlain and Princess Diana. When the company shut down in 1999 as a result of cheap mass production of fittings made from resins and plastics, it was one of three coffin furniture manufacturers in England.

Coins were also manufactured in the Jewellery Quarter by the Birmingham Mint, which flourished in the city from 1850 till 2003. By 1889, it had become the biggest private mint in the world. However, as the Mint expanded, their business diversified into the manufacture of commemorative medals, copper tubings and gambling tokens. By 1953, coins accounted for only 5% of the business.