Was geht ab in ... Birmingham? (englisch)

Birmingham is geographically in the centre of England and in many ways may also be described as the centre of the country’s jewellery and metalsmithing activity. This is partly due to history. The city’s position in the middle of the country, adjacent to coal mining areas, charcoal producers, and water power from rivers, enabled the early development of the metal trades. Not large scale metalwork like the building of ships or bridges, but a more domestic and personal scale – buttons, buckles, snuff boxes, guns and trinkets. For more than two hundred years production of this type of work was so prolific, coinciding as it did with the spread of the British Empire that, in Victorian times Birmingham was known as the ‘workshop of the world’.
 

This success was stimulated by a number of crucial local events; the concept of machine production and organisation of labour came from Matthew Boulton and James Watt when they became partners in 1775; an informal grouping of scientists and inventors including Wedgwood, Priestly, Baskerville and Boulton met regularly in Birmingham forming the Lunar Society; electro-plate was developed by Elkington around 1840 at his factory. A factory which was alongside one of the new man-made canals; Birmingham being naturally located at the centre of the network radiating to all corners of the country – a network so important for the rise of the Industrial Revolution.

Prosperity during the mid 19th century encouraged domestic demand for jewellery and trinkets. Workshops pursued specialist activities and were dependent on each other, so justifying close grouping together. This compactness remains a feature of the Jewellery Quarter today. The economics are different however. In 1866 there were 7500 persons engaged in the jewellery industry, rising to almost 50,000 by 1913. There were several large factories and no retailers. Today there are no more than 5000 participants; only a handful of large manufacturing companies but very many retail outlets. There is though, a different emphasis to production structures in favour of smaller units; of one or two-person ventures. Indicative of this change, the local exhibiting group, Centrepiece, has 20 members; each one a designer-maker working in the Quarter.

Many of these will have attended the Birmingham School of Jewellery, now part of the University of Central England. The School, located in the centre of the Quarter, was founded by the industry in 1890 and now enjoys, since 1994, a wonderful refurbishment which provides the largest and best equipped specialist school in Europe. The widest range of education and training courses from diploma level to doctorate is offered; covering jewellery, silversmithing, horology, gemmology and related products. Most recently, the School has developed expertise in the area of new technology – laser welding and marking, CADCAM and rapid prototyping for the benefit of the local industry.

The City of Birmingham itself is stimulating, and encouraging, to the new designer-maker entrepreneur. Close to the city centre there are many exhibition venues, the largest being the National Exhibition Centre, but including the Mac (Midlands Arts Centre) and Symphony Hall (home of the CBSO). The City Council have recently arranged a promotional festival of jewellery held every year for two months just before Christmas. Two months ago, this festival called Brilliantly Birmingham, featured no less than 14 different jewellery exhibitions. Combined with the Annual Jazz Festival and the Film Festival, Birmingham is an exciting place to be right now!

Terry Hunt
(jeweller and professor at the UCE, Birmingham)
2005