Centre of Metalworking

Birmingham’s rapid expansion into a major centre for the metalworking industry from the mid-18th century earned it the title of ‘the workshop of the world’. Just outside the heart of the city, in close proximity to the canals and Assay Office, the Jewellery Quarter developed into a concentrated, close-knit neighbourhood, working in a great variety of specialist trades related to the production of jewellery, silverware and metal ware.

Over 70,000 people were employed in this sector in the early 1900s in Birmingham, with the jewellery trade being considered the most lucrative in the city. Most of the factories were small family businesses, like JW Evans, rather than purpose-built spaces.

The years up to the First World War were the heyday of JW Evans with a rapid increase in trade and employees. Account books show 48 employees in 1896 and record the production of over 100 dies annually during the early years of the business. Products were sold to luxury good sellers and high-end manufacturers such as Mappin and Webb, Asprey’s, Garrard’s, Walker and Hall, Elkington’s and numerous smaller manufacturers in Birmingham, London and even abroad in America and Australia.

The Production Process

Two linked manufacturing processes, die-sinking and drop-stamping, underpinned much of the Jewellery Quarter’s industry.

Die-sinking involved hand cutting a pattern out of a solid block of steel. Each time a new article was designed, a new set of dies had to be made. This was highly skilled work, which required many years of apprenticeship. The deeply cut, three-dimensional patterns, like those needed for candlestick bodies or pepper pots, were especially challenging. But once made, the die could be used to create thousands of patterned parts in silver or base metals.

JW Evans specialised in ‘deep work’ for table silverware – items which had deep bodies such as gravy boats and took more steps to ‘sink’ the metal to the required depth. A huge variety of designs were produced and the stock became a treasured resource. Even after the firm invested in a newly invented die-copying machine in 1911, most of the work was still done by hand.

Once a die had been cut, it was placed into a drop-stamp. A heavy hammer head was raised by pulling on a rope, connected to an overhead line-shaft (later assisted by being driven by an engine). When the rope was released, the hammer head struck a thin sheet of metal, pressing it into the pattern of the die.

The deep pressings made for silverware at JW Evans demanded great skill to ensure a sharp, consistent product. Barry Abbotts, the last drop-stamper to work there, believes it took him nine years to learn his craft.

From Industry to Retail

With the decline in the market for silverware, the Jewellery Quarter has diversified, and many companies are less specialised, carrying out a range of processes such as spinning, drop-stamping, soldering, fly-pressing and polishing.

Before the 1980s, shops were almost non-existent in the Jewellery Quarter but it is now the largest centre of jewellery retailing in the UK. Its rich architectural heritage has also attracted other uses, including hospitality, offices and housing.

But despite economic pressures and its location just outside the centre of England’s second largest city, the area still retains much of its gritty, industrial character. About 40% of UK jewellery is still made there, as well as a huge range of metal-ware. New labour-saving production methods continue to replace old techniques, as the quarter’s businesses innovate to survive.

English Heritage took on JW Evans Silver Factory in 2008, and opened the site to the public in 2011 following an intensive conservation project to repair the building fabric. This included replacing all roofs and gutters, windows, reinforcing brickwork and installing new electrical services, all whilst the entire collection remained protected in situ, where it is still viewable today.