The Birmingham Jewellery Quarter has been described by English Heritage as ‘a national treasure’ ‘a place of unique character’ and ‘jewellery and metalworking which does not seem to exist anywhere else in the world’.
Along with Warstone Lane, Vyse Street is the main thoroughfare of the Jewellery Quarter. Scores of jewellery shops line the Jewellery quarter in addition to many other places of interest to shoppers and visitors such as the Museum of the Jewellery Quarter , (opposite Victoria James on Vyse street) or art galleries, places to eat etc.
The jewellery trade developed around the Vyse St and Warstone lane area, with wealthy factory owners eventually developing the St Paul's Church area as the leafy residential area adjacent to the main Jewellery Quarter. This area too eventually became converted to workshops and factories as the district developed at a huge rate.
Named after Sir Howard Vyse, Vyse Street has evolved from what was a leafy residential suburban street looking out on a green and pleasant Hockley Heath in the mid-19th century to the bustling, marvellous shopping high street of today.
The shopping area now in existence is a recent development over the last 50 years as the area became derelict due to recession and decline. War bomb damage and clearance led to a rebirth of the area with modern retail and workshop developments but tastefully keeping the best of the flamboyant architecture of the industrious past.
The Chamberlain Clock
The Chamberlain Clock is the iconic landmark centrepiece of the Jewellery Quarter.
This fine clock tower, located centrally at the junction of the districts main streets (Vyse St, Warstone Lane & Frederick St.), was erected in 1903 in honour of one of Birmingham's favourite sons & most respected public servants, Joseph Chamberlain, MP for the area in the late 1900's.
In September 1903, Joseph Chamberlain resigned from office so that he would be free to advocate his scheme of tariff reform. Chamberlain wanted to transform the British Empire into a united trading block. According to Chamberlain, preferential treatment should be given to colonial imports and British companies producing goods for the home market should be given protection from cheap foreign goods, something which is currently affecting British industry, especially in the Jewellery trade.
Chamberlain lived in the Jewellery Quarter for a while, on Frederick Street. In addition to the great work he did for the city of Birmingham, Chamberlain also championed the jewellers’ cause, especially in his campaigning work to abolish Plate Duties - a tax affecting jewellery tradesmen of the time.
The Chamberlain Clock has recently been restored to its original glory after falling into a state of disrepair, having stood in its original condition for over 80 years. In the 1980's the clock tower was refurbished and repaired and now stands, proud and tall again at the heart of the Jewellery Quarter.
St Paul's Square
The southern side of Jewellery Quarter is the exclusive location for trendy wine bars, restaurants and clubs (plenty of places to wear your new Diamond Jewellery) and sought after, city living executive apartments.
St Paul’s Church and grounds are in the centre of the square with Ludgate Hill, Water Street and Fleet Street intersecting. St Paul’s Square was built in 1779 and was originally part of the Colmore family’s “Newhall Estate
John Baskerville
The original vaults and catacombs built into the former sandpit contain some of the most infamous Birmingham businessmen, including the inventor of the printing typeface, John Baskerville
Born in 1706, John Baskerville eventually married and developed a hugely successful manufacturing business with his wife. In addition to this he printed on an industrial scale using his print type face, of which this is one.
Baskerville was responsible for significant innovations in printing, paper and ink production. He developed a technique which produced a smoother whiter paper which showcased his strong black type. Baskerville also pioneered a completely new style of typography adding wide margins and leading between each line.
Baskerville, an atheist, was buried at his own request in un-consecrated ground in the garden of his house, Easy Hill. When a canal was built through the land his body was secretly deposited in the crypt of Christ Church, Birmingham.
Later his remains were moved, with other bodies from the crypt, to consecrated catacombs at Warstone Lane Cemetery. Baskerville House was built on the grounds of Easy Hill.
Industry and Genius, 1990, by David Patten, sculpture in Centenary Square, Birmingham, England. A monument to John Baskerville outside Baskerville House which was itself built on Baskerville's home
Birmingham Assay Office
The Birmingham Assay Office, Birmingham Jewellery Quarter opened on August 31, 1773, and initially operated from three rooms in the King's Head Inn on New Street employing only four staff and was only operating on a Tuesday.
The first customer on that day was Matthew Boulton.
The Birmingham Assay Office, Birmingham Jewellery Quarter moved from the pub in 1815 to its own offices at Little Cannon Street and then moved to its current home on Newhall Street in the Jewellery Quarter in 1877, and is now the largest Assay Office in Europe, hallmarking 13 million articles in 2003.
Services provided by the office include nickel testing, metal analysis, plating thickness determination, bullion certification, consultancy and gem certification.
Platinum was brought within hallmarking regulations in 1975. The Diamond grading department of the Birmingham Assay office is called Anchor Cert and we use them regularly here at Victoria James.
