The Jewelry Quarter
The Discovery Centre of Jewelry Quarter is a living and working museum, located in the Birmingham City center, in Birmingham, West Midlands, in England. The district is famous for its manufacture of jewelry, coins and medals and has brought forth many pioneer advancements in industrial technology.
The Discovery Centre captures the history of this place, revealing mysteries of the goldsmith traditions, craftsmanship and trade. The three-story, red brick terraced building in Victorian industrial style hosts the workshops and offices of a family firm called Smith and Pepper and managed by Birmingham Museums and Art Gallery and their specialists. Here, visitors can find themselves in a time capsule, where they can admire the vast range of original stamps, tools and machinery of the jewel making industry.
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They can be offered demonstrations by real goldsmiths regarding the techniques used in the production of jewelry, from the earliest times, the stones used, all the way to the most modern and stunning jewelry design to be found in the Jewelry Quarter, using high quality audio visual presentations.
The Jewelry Quarter is pervaded by the atmosphere of art and craftsmanship, with its fine redbrick buildings, Victorian factories, St. Paul's square and church, the chimney and the Chamberlain clock, the huge charm bracelet padlock at the bottom of Newhall Hill. The area contains the highest concentration of dedicated jewelers in Europe. There is a Jewelry School in the Birmingham City University and the Vittoria Stret houses the Jewelry Teaching Centre for the Birmingham Institute of Art and Design.
There are 400 jewelry manufacturers in the Jewelry Quarter, producing 40 per cent of British jewelry output, for the general public and for the wholesale and retail trade.
After you have wandered the streets, soaked by their timeless atmosphere, eclectic and harmonious, contemplated the unique characteristics of this Birmingham place, you can maybe purchase a fine piece of jewelry as a keepsake of your visit here.