Jewellery Quarter
The Jewellery Quarter is a district just north-west of Birmingham city centre where jewellers and metalworkers have clustered since the eighteenth century, and where much of Britain's jewellery is still made. Its streets of workshops, factories and Georgian and Victorian houses are protected as a conservation area.
In practice
Hundreds of jewellery businesses, from manufacturers to independent designers and shops, still work here. The Birmingham Assay Office, founded in 1773, tests and hallmarks precious metals; its mark is an anchor. The Museum of the Jewellery Quarter preserves a workshop left as it was when its owners closed it, and the area also has St Paul's Square, the city's only surviving Georgian square, and two historic cemeteries. Converted workshops have made it one of the most popular residential districts near the centre.
Why it matters to newcomers
The JQ is the place to buy or commission jewellery, including engagement rings, directly from makers. It is also a favourite for living, with bars, cafés and quick tram and train links into the city centre.
Related
- City of a thousand trades - the economy the Quarter came from
- Back to Backs - how the city's workers lived
- Digbeth - another industrial district reborn
Sources: Jewellery Quarter; Birmingham Museums.