It was a great pleasure for Assay Office Birmingham to greet two visitors who came to see us all the way from Australia on Friday afternoon.

Kevin Hitchins, a Gold and Platinumsmith and Deborah Hamid, a Gemmologist and Valuer both took time out from their visit to the UK to view the private silver collection as Assay Office Birmingham. Kevin was formerly the punch holder for The Gold and Silversmiths Guild of Australia, a society formed in 1988 to uphold the standards of the goldsmith’s art in Australia. They enjoyed a tour of the Silver Collection, which was conducted by curator Craig O’Donnell.  Of particular interest to Kevin was the electrotyped plate register of 16th Century Belgian (Low Countries) makers marks which was acquired from Elkington and Co in the late 19th century and the Assay Office Manufacturers’ Register, an example of which can be seen in the photograph above. Kevin was astounded to discover the sheer size of the manufacturers’ archive, for example, the period 1890-1920 consists of 4500 makers and approx 15000 makers marks. It is good to see that Assay Office Birmingham is still looked on as a prestigious point of interest to jewellery professionals from all over the world. To find out more information about The Gold and Silversmiths Guild of Australia, follow the link below; http://www.gsga.org.au

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