school of jewellery in the birmingham jewellery quarter

School of Jewellery

In early November 1889, the British Jewellers Association (known then as the Birmingham Jewellery and Silversmiths Association) hosted a meeting at the Birmingham Assay Office.

The meeting was attended by a selection of representatives from notable jewellery and silverware manufacturing companies, the reason of the gathering was to discuss the setting up of an exclusive school for the industry, following up successful pilot classes at the Ellen Street Board of Schools.

The proposition stated the new school would need to hold up to four hundred and sixty students and must cater for boys from the age of twelve and a half years, host courses for adult craftsmen and separate courses for females.

Eventually, the objective was achieved and the new school was opened in a factory building located on Vittoria Street, where it currently occupies, in mid-September 1890.

The School of Jewellery can be found at the heart of the famous Birmingham Jewellery Quarter on Vittoria Street where its students can choose from a truly unique selection of courses that cover jewellery, silversmithing, horology and gemmology and will be taught the full range of traditional techniques, combined with teaching its students the correct method of using the school’s cutting-edge technology. Many of the School’s alumni have gone on to work for retailers in the area.