Congratulations to Rob Bosworth of Signet Trading Ltd, who is the winner of this week's competition! Along with a 10x Magnification Loupe and a handy Selvyt Cleaning Cloth, Rob has also bagged himself some great Assay Office Birmingham gifts, which include a Cracking the Code DVD and an Enamel Anchor Pin Badge!

The most complicated handmade watch, the Henry Graves Supercomplication, has been sold at auction for 20.6m Swiss francs (£13.4m). A "complication" is a technical term referring to any feature on a watch which is in addition to simply telling the time. The Supercomplication, made by Patek Philippe in 1932, has 24 of them including Westminster chimes, a perpetual calendar, sunrise and sunset times, and a celestial map of New York as seen from Graves's apartment on Fifth Avenue. Ass…

 The European standardisation body (CEN) formulated six European standards that further specified the essential requirements of directive 94/62/ EC. The identification system is currently voluntary but many European suppliers have accepted this as the norm and are following the regulations as a matter of course. In order to try to limit long term detrimental impact on the environment certain heavy metals are restricted under Article 11 of the Packaging directive.  A maximum conce…

ASSAY OFFICE BIRMINGHAM ARE OFFERING YOU A FINAL CHANCE TO WIN TWO GREAT JEWELLERY WORKSHOP ITEMS! In order to win the prizes, all you need to do is tell us the answers to the following questions…….. HOW TO ENTER To enter this competition, please send in your answer plus your full name, e-mail address and contact number to gem@theassayoffice.co.uk by MIDNIGHT ON THURSDAY. The winner will be announced on Friday afternoon. For a chance to win an extra prize, why no…