The Birmingham Assay Office will be making a major contribution to the International Jewellery London (IJL) Exhibition in September as part of an ongoing project to increase the appeal of the UK’s only specialist Jewellery Exhibition, to attract more high quality visitors and develop IJL into a truly international event.
The Birmingham Assay Office is once again staging ‘The IJL Great Debate’ in partnership with Reed Exhibitions. Digby, Lord Jones of Birmingham, Minister for Trade & Investment, will chair The Great Debate, raising its profile and acknowledging the importance of ethical, humanitarian and social issues associated with the Jewellery trade.
The motion, “This house believes that the global jewellery industry will deliver an ethically responsible supply chain in line with consumer demand” will be proposed by Michael Rae, CEO of the Council for Responsible Jewellery Practices and opposed by Gordon Hamme, long time member of the UK Jewellery Trade and now editor of ‘The Goldsmith’ magazine.
Michael Allchin, Chief Executive, and Assay Master says: “We believe this to be a very important issue for jewellers and we are delighted that Digby, Lord Jones has agreed to attend. As a member of the IJL Advisory Board we are very supportive of Reed Exhibitions’ desire to raise the profile of the exhibition and create new reasons for people to visit the show. With Digby, Lord Jones as Chairman the Debate is bound to be lively and we look forward to welcoming many members of the International jewellery trade.”
Reed Exhibitions are offering a wide range of free seminars and workshops as another incentive for people to attend the show. The Birmingham Assay Office will be contributing to these with two new and very relevant topics. On Sunday Michael Allchin will present the evidence for his claim that: “Christmas Eve is no longer 24th December.”
Pulling together the latest statistics about online sales, TV Shopping channels, and the resultant changing footfall pattern in the High Street Michael will outline the way shopping habits are changing. Vital information for jewellers planning their Christmas promotional campaigns and determining staffing requirements.
Adding to the International status of the Exhibition Michael Allchin will also deliver a talk in his capacity as President of the CIBJO Precious Metals Commission. The seminar on Tuesday will discuss the importance of the CIBJO Blue Books and specifically the latest addition, the Precious Metals Blue Book.
The benefits of international standards for Precious metals are apparent, but it is easy to forget how inconsistent they are from within the safety of the UK where manufacturers and jewellers enjoy the reassurance of a statutory hallmarking system. The New Blue Book defines international standards which will benefit the entire trade.
In addition to these events The Birmingham Assay Office will be exhibiting on Stand C305 offering the latest information on Hallmarking and Precious Metal analysis and promoting its increasingly popular AnchorCert Diamond Certification and SafeGuard Valuation services.
