Artisan Jewellery

The British jewellery industry has gone through a massive overhaul in the past half century, its ancient heritage making way for new designers with modern ideas and a fresh take on style and design. Emma Johnson goes on a gem hunt skill that the British jewellery industry still enjoys.

- Emma Johnson

THE BRITISH JEWELLERY industry dates back as far as medieval times, when Hatton Garden in the old City of London became a centre for jewellers and jewellery. Now, hundreds of years later, it remains an important place for diamond buying and selling, and purchasing vintage and commissioned jewellery. Nearly 300 businesses in Hatton Garden are in the jewellery industry and over 55 shops represent the largest cluster of jewellery retailers in the UK. In London as a whole, the renowned names of Graff, Boodles, Garrard and Astley Clarke, many of them occupying grand headquarters in Mayfair, speak of a heritage stretching back through the centuries. While further afield, the likes of the Jewellery Quarter in Birmingham, and artisan workshops stretching from Cornwall and Wales to Sussex and Nottingham, showcase the wealth of talent and skill that the British jewellery industry still enjoys.