IJL 2014 charity auction raises funds for Breast Cancer Care

International Jewellery London (IJL) 2014 has confirmed that its first charity auction held as part of the Late Night Shopping Evening during the September show, raised £3,428 for Breast Cancer Care.

A hand-crafted charm bracelet, designed by Sarah Jordan and cast by Birmingham’s Hockley Mint, was the star lot successfully bid for by Hester Clarke’s Julia Clarke.

IJL head of marketing Sarah Kitley-Spencer said: “Many thanks to the industry for helping us raise this massive amount of money for Breast Cancer Care and also to the many brands, designers and the BJA who donated the very beautiful pieces for the auction.”

IJL head of corporate fundraising Sara Rees said: “We really appreciate all the hard work that went into organising this wonderful auction.

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Leading UK casting houses embrace Fairtrade gold

Five of Britain’s leading casting houses have upped their offering of Fairtrade gold, in a UK push to ensure Fairtrade becomes a “systemic part of the jewellery industry offering”.

Jewellers can now buy everything from sheet, wire, casting grain, tube to chain from Cred, Cooksons, Hockley Mint, Vipa Designs and Western Beamor who are all offering some or all of their ranges Fairtrade gold.

The move ensures that everyone in the jewellery industry can contribute towards bringing about transformational change to disadvantaged artisanal mining communities and reform the way the jewellery industry works for the better.

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BJA calls for entries to its Charity Charm competition

As part of IJLs late night shopping event on August 31, there will be a charity auction where visitors to IJL have the opportunity to bid for a unique piece of jewellery for themselves

BJA Chairman Gary Wroe of Birmingham manufacturer Hockley Mint will cast the bracelet for Breast Cancer Care fashioned by BJA National Committee member Sarah Jordan. Jordan and five other high profile designers - Shaun Leane, Tomasz Donocik, Andrew Goeghegan, Linda MacDonald, and Alexander Davis - have each pledged to design and make an original charm to be attached to it.

All of those taking part are extremely well-known and have won national and international awards for their designs, including for Geoghegan and Macdonald the title of BJA Designer of the Year and Donocik, Jordan and Davis the UK Jewellery Awards

The Association is now staging a competition to pick two further charms to attach to the bracelet and an entry form is now available online at The closing date for entries will be June 27 and the winners will be announced in early July.

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Catwalk jewels at Jewellery & Watch

The Catwalk at Jewellery and Watch Birmingham showcased jewellery from a number of designer brands this year, including Maree, LucyQ, Rachel Galley, Anna Byers and Tresor Paris. Models walked to a number of themes based on trends in jewellery design, with structural armour-like pieces alongside statement gold designs, faux gemstone collections and fine diamond pieces. Among the jewellery worn on the runway were pieces by Ti Sento, Nikki Lissoni, Jos Von Arx, Hockley Mint, JCM, Story by Kranz and Ziegler, Phantasya, Carat and Sapienta.




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100,000 Fairtrade wedding rings objective for 2014

Fairtrade International has announced plans to improve the availability of Fairtrade gold wedding rings in a bid to boost sales, with hopes of the number sold hitting 100,000 in the UK next year.

The initiative, led by ethical campaigner and Fairtrade gold and precious metals co-ordinator Greg Valerio, will work with leading UK wedding ring manufacturers to try to boost the number of weddings and civil partnerships sealed with Fairtrade rings to 50,000 in 2014.

A number of British manufacturers, including Brown & Newirth and Hockley Mint, have pledged their commitment to Fairtrade wedding bands following an in-depth discussion surrounding Fairtrade gold that took place at the recent Company of Master Jewellers (CMJ) UK Jewellery Conference.

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