The Great Debate, an initiative delivered in partnership between The Birmingham Assay Office and Reed Exhibitions once again covered new, thought provoking ground at IJL yesterday. Panellists Daniela Nordmeyer from fashion giant Monsoon Accessorize and fresh produce grower turned jeweller Alan Frampton drew some interesting parallels with other industries to make the capacity audience sit up and take notice. [caption id="attachment_6282" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Alan Frampton, now …

CIBJO, the World Jewellery Confederation, and the Responsible Jewellery Council (RJC) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on Sunday 1st September on The Birmingham Asay Office Stand H119 at the International Jewellery London Show (IJL).  The MOU will work to further advance responsible business practices among all sectors of the jewellery supply chain, and will include the use of CSR education programmes developed by CIBJO, in collaboration with the United Nations, and chain of custody…

Matthew Boulton[/caption] The Birmingham Assay Office is the only surviving enterprise that Matthew Boulton founded and the staff are proud to carry forward his legacy. The Birmingham Assay Office's main statutory duty is still to assay and hallmark precious metal material but the following 240 years have seen many changes and The Birmingham Assay Office has evolved and expanded to incorporate many new services - SafeGuard is the UK's premier Independent Jewellery, Watch & Silverwar…