| The Birmingham Jewellery Quarter is an historic | | | | the years and now includes: medals, enamelled |
| industrial area of international importance located | | | | badges, civic & society's regalia, ceremonial chains, |
| immediately to the north and north-west of | | | | traditional handcrafted enamels, corporate jewellery, |
| Chamberlain Square in the centre of Birmingham. The | | | | awards, and trophies. The company also offers a |
| area is notable for its dense mix of converted | | | | free design service; designing and manufacturing |
| houses, factories and ancillary buildings dating from | | | | products to customers' exact requirements, and |
| the late 18th century to the present day and largely | | | | excels in one off bespoke products and small run |
| associated with the production of jewellery and small | | | | production. They are also able to undertake the |
| metal wares. The significance of the Jewellery | | | | specialised service of renovation and refurbishment |
| Quarter lies in its survival as an inner-city cluster of | | | | of presentation jewels and pendants of office. |
| specialist industrial buildings, and also from its | | | | KJD Jewellers is also part of the Toye family they |
| continuing role as the country's main centre for | | | | manufacture hand crafted, very high quality vitreous |
| gold-jewellery production. The Quarter is also an | | | | enamel on precious metal designer cufflinks, to supply |
| important repository of traditional craft skills, industrial | | | | Jewellers and high end retail outlets throughout the |
| processes and historic tools and machinery. | | | | world. Enamelling has its own unique history in |
| Now occupying a space in the famous quarter is | | | | Jewellery that stems back many hundreds of years. |
| theLondon Badge and Button Company. Lbb London | | | | Here is a very brief, summarised history. |
| has over 30 years of experience in design and | | | | The word enamel comes from the High German |
| development of fine silver-gilt and silver designer | | | | word "smelzan" later becoming "esmail" in Old French. |
| cufflinks for high fashion men's accessories retailers. | | | | Hence the current usage of "smalto" in Italian, "email" |
| Toye, Kenning and Spencer are one of the oldest | | | | in French and German and "enamel" in English. |
| family run businesses in the world, having been | | | | It is thus defined as a vitreous, glass like coating |
| established in England over 300 years ago by a family | | | | fused on to a metallic base. In history, enamels were |
| of Huguenot refugees the Toyés. Since 1685 | | | | initially applied on firstly gold, then silver, copper, |
| members of the Toye family have been using their | | | | bronze and more latterly on iron and steel. The term |
| skills to create fine identity products for both the civil | | | | is also used for the application of decorative fusible |
| and military markets. | | | | glass applied to glass objects. |
| The company has excelled in the making and | | | | The earliest known enamelled objects were made in |
| stamping of medals and insignia in the last 200 years, | | | | Cyprus in around the 13th century BC during the |
| and they possess great expertise in the application of | | | | Mycenae period. Six gold rings discovered in a |
| vitreous enamel and enamel painting for insignia, | | | | Mycenae tomb at Kouklia were decorated with |
| medal and jewellery production. Their craftsmen and | | | | various vitreous coloured layers fused on to the gold. |
| women combine the traditional skills of working in | | | | Now in modern times enamels are used to decorate |
| precious and non-precious metals with today's | | | | designer cufflinks of all shapes and sizes using |
| modern technology to produce a vast array of | | | | traditional methods supported by modern technology, |
| quality products. | | | | often combined with Swarovski Crystals, another |
| The product range has expanded considerably over | | | | favourite amongst jewellery designers. |