The Jewellery Quarter

On Saturday, I went to the Jewellery Quarter of Birmingham. Birmingham has historically been an industrial city. It has been known as the City of one thousand and one industries. In fact, at one time there were over 5000 industries running in Birmingham. Obviously, the Jewellery Quarter is where Jewellery was (and still is) produced. Jewellery has been made here for over 200 years. Jewellery which is made in Birmingham has an anchor stamped into the back of it.

The Museum of the Jewellery Quarter is housed in a factory which in 1981, closed it´s doors. This factory was the home of Smith and Pepper and they had produced Jewellery from the 1890´s. Unfortunately, the 1980´s was a bad time for the industry, and so in 1981 the owners of the factory closed the doors and walked away. About 20 years later, the council took over the building and found everything left in exactly the same place as it had been in 1981. The tour of the Museum took us through the factory and upstairs office, talked about some of the people who had worked in the factory for years, and explained the jewellery making process.

It was one of the most interesting museums that I´ve been to. A very enjoyable way to spend an afternoon (and I didn´t even buy any of the lovely jewellery that was on display in the museum and in the shop windows lining the streets).