Make sure you don't miss out! Tickets are selling out fast for the British Silver Week Silver Visit on Weds 20th June please call 0871 871 6020 or email silver@theassayoffice.co.uk to book your place. Places are £10 each and are limited so early booking is advisable.
British Silver Week has blossomed into the Festival of Silver and is once again holding its Press Launch at the Pangolin Fine Art Gallery in London in May. The Birmingham Assay Office are pleased to sponsor the participation of five silversmiths who have recently qualified from the Birmingham School Of Jewellery.
Left to right - Simon Pattison, Jemma Daniels, Drew Markou
Christopher Hay, Drew Markou, Jemma Da.... More >
posted: in AnchorCert News
May 18, 2012
The British Silver Week 2012 Festival of Silver has launched at Pangolin London Fine Art Gallery in Kings Place and will be running until Friday 18th May.
The Birmingham Assay office is proud to sponsor the event and Business Manager Marie Brennan and Marketing Manager Penny Parkes attended on Monday and remarked that they were 'pleased to see that Birmingham Silver smiths were well represented at the event.'
From Left to right: Esther Lord, Drew Markou, Jemma Daniels, Marie Brennan, Ryan McCleanThe exhibition features work for sale from many of Britain's finest contemporary silversmiths including Esther Lord, Drew Markou, Jemma Daniels and Ryan McClean.
To see some pictures from.... 
IDEA Birmingham - a business-university collaboration promoting design-driven innovation - recently announced the shortlisted nominations in its inaugural Birmingham Made Me Design Awards.
The Awards ceremony will take place on 22nd June 2012 in Birmingham's Mailbox and will be the culmination of Birmingham's first week long Design Expo in over 100 years. The Birmingham Assay Office will join around 100 other exhibitors from business and education as well as a 'Design Fringe' programme including over 20 art and design seminars, events and activities. The EXPO provides an ambitious line up looking to stimulate fresh thinking. The Expo is Free for all and open to everyone.
As w.... 
The Birmingham Assay is delighted to be nominated for the inaugural Birmingham made me brand award which is to take place on Friday 22 June 6-6.30PM at THE MAILBOX BIRMINGHAM
The Birmingham Made Me Awards Ceremony includes Best Midlands Brand, Innovation or Radical Design, alongside awards for Emerging Brand and Collaborative Design between education and business.
FROM 15th MAY Please vote for The Birmingham Assay Office - From the oldest form of consumer protection to the latest innovative gemmological APP - this organisation has had for nearly 250 years, Independence, Integrity and Innovation stamped on its Heart. It truly does bear the Hallmark of Birmingham.
Click on.... 
An educational institute should be at the heart of its community, according to the Principal of University College Birmingham (UCB) – who is in support of a new initiative to improve the Jewellery Quarter.
The Jewellery Quarter BID, which is being led by the Jewellery Quarter Development Trust (JQDT) in partnership with Birmingham City Council, aims to attract investment, increase visitor numbers and encourage a more vibrant economy, while making the area a better place in which to work, invest and live.
Over 500 local businesses are being asked to vote to support the initiative, which will see companies with premises with a rateable value of £10,000 and above pay an annual le.... 
A new initiative for Jewellery Quarter businesses to fund improvements in their area is music to the ears of a long established local venue.
The Jewellery Quarter BID, which is being led by the Jewellery Quarter Development Trust (JQDT) in partnership with Birmingham City Council, aims to attract investment, increase visitor numbers and encourage a more vibrant economy, while making the area a better place in which to work, invest and live.
Over 500 local businesses are being asked to vote to support the initiative, which will see companies with premises with a rateable value of £10,000 or above pay an annual levy of 2% to fund additional investment for the benefit of the whole ar.... 
Kay Alexander is urging businesses to ensure the Jewellery Quarter remains the jewel in the city’s crown by voting ‘yes’ for a Business Improvement District (BID) in the area.
The Jewellery Quarter BID, which is being led by the Jewellery Quarter Development Trust (JQDT) in partnership with Birmingham City Council, aims to attract investment, increase visitor numbers and encourage a more vibrant economy, while making the area a better place in which to work, invest and live.
Over 500 local businesses are being asked to vote to support the initiative, which will see companies with premises with a rateable value of £10,000 and above pay an annual levy of 2% to fund additional.... ![_60125488_silverpotsforonline[1]](http://www.assaynews.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/60125488_silverpotsforonline1-150x150.jpg "_60125488_silverpotsforonline[1]")
Increasing numbers of people have been selling off the family silver amid rocketing prices, according to Birmingham jewellery traders.
Terry Ann Stephenson, of Lois in the city's Jewellery Quarter, said the high prices meant many items were more valuable sold as scrap rather than for their antique value.
"It's such a shame, but at the end of the day it's just a sign of the times," she said.
"You know people are struggling for money and it's just a way of getting money together to pay bills."
UK silver prices, which were below £4 per ounce in 2003, reached an all-time high of nearly £30 per ounce last year.
The price is currently about £19 per ounce, but selling old silv.... 
AnchorCert Gemological Laboratory was proud to once again sponsor the Scottish Gemological Conference over the weekend. Staff that attended remarked that they learnt so much and had a great time meeting up with old and new faces. Please see a selection of pictures from the event below. To see the full collection please visit http://www.facebook.com/#!/media/set/?set=a.365877166801985.84169.128838130505891&type=1
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Even after a wonderful night of Scottish hospitality we are all up early on this Spring like Sunday morning and hungry for more knowledge. Looking forward to Professor Hanni's Diamond quiz and to the presentation of prizes for the Scottish gem set jewellery competition and Scottish trophies.... 
Wonderful first day at Scottish GEMMOLOGICAL conference in Perth. A truly international gathering. Fascinating talks from pearls to ivory and then on to Venus... You need to be here! The new AnchorCert App is being well received and downloaded by delegates on iPads and phones. We even tried out our NEW App which is still in development to the delight of an attendee as we were able to rapidly provide an answer for her. Can't say too much more but things are looking good.... The Ceilidh this evening will be a real nightlight. Can't wait..... 
Successful Asian Jewellery Seminar held Rececently In Birmingham in collaboration with The Birmingham Assay Office, British Jewellers' association, Birmingham City Council Trading Standards, West Midlands Police, Surrey Police, the Metropolitan Police.
In an effort to highlight the issues in the Asian jewellery community, a very successful evening seminar was recently held at the BJA conference centre in Birmingham.
As a joint collaboration between the British Jewellers’ Association, Birmingham Assay Office, Birmingham City Council and West Midlands Police, the seminar highlighted the issues relating to security, hallmarking and trading in second hand jewellery over the counter.
.... 
Launching this year at the fine art Pangolin London gallery on 12 May the BSW Festival of Silver 2012 promises to be bigger than ever. Get your FREE Complimentary tickets to the Festival of Silver by downloading them form the British Silver Week website at http://www.britishsilverweek.co.uk/
Contemporary silversmithing is enjoying a renaissance in the UK. In the last three hundred years there have never been more talented working silversmiths in the UK. Teaching by the art colleges of traditional silversmithing skills combined with contemporary design ideas have produced a remarkable group of modern silversmiths.
Now in it’s fifth year British Silver Week has .... 
Friday 18th May 4pm - 7pm
Saturday 19th May 10am - 4pm
The Jewellers of Centrepiece invite you to visit their workshops in Birmingham's Jewellery Quarter this month. This year we've invited guest jewellers to join us, lining up 10 venues to explore and over 30 makers to meet.
It’s the perfect chance to see behind the scenes and glimpse the modern working environment of this historic area of the city. Meet working jewellers and buy original, contemporary work from the hands that made it.
About the Quarter:
The Jewellery Quarter boasts a collection of great coffee shops and restaurants, 2 museums and, on the 19th of May, a Farmers Market.
Make a day of exploring the area and, w.... 
(IDEX Online News) – It was another record-breaking
sale at Christie's New York. The star of the auction was a
9-carat cushion-cut fancy vivid purplish-pink diamond ring by Dreicer &
Co., which sold for a U.S. auction record of $15,762,500 or $1.75 million per
carat.
The Clark Pink, which dates back to circa 1910, was part of the estate
of Huguette M. Clark. It was bought by Brett Stettner of Stettner Investment
Diamonds.
The Clark estate achieved a total of $20.8 million against a presale
estimate of $9 million. This result makes it the second-most valuable private
collection to have been sold in the U.S. in the last decade, behind the record
f.... 
