Nickel

Visitors will be met with a warm welcome, including coffee and biscuits before the visit, and afterwards, in the Gift Shop, they will be able to buy gifts such as books and silver items all made in Birmingham’s Jewellery Quarter and hallmarked at The Birmingham Assay Office.  There are lots of Gift ideas for that someone special….. The Silver Collection Visit will take place on Monday 24th February, Monday 28th April and Thursday 26th June at The Birmingham Assay Office, with…

  The Quick Nickel Release (2011) test is a UKAS accredited test, unique to The Birmingham Assay Office, it is quicker and cheaper than the full Nickel Release reference test and has been validated by significant data and approved by most UK fashion and jewellery retailers. In the majority of cases (more than 98.8%), passing the ‘Quick Nickel test’ indicates that items will pass EN 1811: 2011 / EN 12472: 2009 and comply with the Nickel regulation cited in REACH. This is an acceptab…

New EU rules about which chemicals can be used in toy jewellery or kids’ pieces cannot be ignored. We asked the Birmingham Assay Office’s Michelle Cartwright to talk us through the issues. Product safety is becoming increasingly regulated within the EU and thus having a significant impact on the jewellery and watch industry. The burden is felt particularly heavily in the case of children’s jewellery which tends to sell for a lower price, partly due to its smaller size and a…

Despite vigorous campaigning from The Birmingham Assay Office this method has become enforceable but there is now considerable pressure to review it. Italy, France and Germany all voted in favour of the method but their trade representatives are now frantically working with the UK to try to have the method reviewed. A resolution was passed at the international CIBJO conference in May to this effect and a delegation of CIBJO members, including Michael Allchin visited Brussels in late June to …