The Quarter

For over 200 years Birmingham's Jewellery Quarter has been the home of some of the worlds most highly skilled goldsmiths and jewellery makers. The advent of shops opening to the public is a recent phenomenon, with the majority of retail outlets springing up since the 1970′s.

The Jewelry Quarter in Birmingham rapidly expanded during the 19th century when a taste for fashionable jewellery really took off. Tradesmen worked from their homes or in small workshops and business flourished, with jewellery production quickly becoming a thriving industry that led to the expansion of the area with new streets, elegant properties and fantastic profits.

Along with Warstone Lane, Vyse Street is the main thoroughfare of the Jewellery Quarter. Scores of jewellery shops line Vyse Street in addition to many other places of interest to shoppers and visitors such as the Museum of the Jewellery Quarter and art and antiques and trophy shops.

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Rich in history and tradition, all visitors to the Jewellery Quarter will no doubt venture along Warstone Lane, one of the main streets of the area. As you'd expect, jewellery shops abound - with many retailers trading from lovely Victorian and Edwardian premises.

The Big Peg, a modern office block building, was erected in 1960 and, as the name suggests, it acts as a communal work space for hundreds of jewellery workers – each with their own, modern-day 'peg'.

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