I have an opportunity to visit London Oct 3-8 and want to visit at
least 1 or two Jewelry exhibitions. I have a lot to do in just a few
short days but this is important to me because I know so many of you
Orchidians are from London! This will be my FIRST TRIP to
London!!!
Please let me know what you think the top exhibitions are and where
they are so I can plan them in to my schedule. I’m staying on the
Haig but can go anywhere with the tube.
FYI, I will be offline Sept 25-30 and won’t be able to respond
directly to your suggestions but I hope that won’t stop you from
sharing.
If you are in London between 2nd. and the 7th. of October you can
catch the second week of an exhibition at the Goldsmith’s Hall, near
St.Pauls in the City of London. This is an annual exhibition called
the Goldsmiths Fair and is held in the magnificent building of the
Goldsmith’s Hall. There will about 100 exhibitors at the show. The
show is also on this week 24th. Sept to 30th Sept. as well if anybody
is interested, entrance fee is by catalogue at.
Hi - my daughter and I will be going to London in February to watch
the Queen present my sister with the OBE… pretty cool! We’re
staying a few extra days for my daughter to do some historical
research. I would like to do some different sightseeing while there.
Any suggestions of unusual but well worth doing places to go, things
to see, galleries, etc. We’ve been enough to have done most of the
best known tourist things… I’m looking for less well known but
neat things. Jewelry related is fine but not imperative.
I’ll put forth a suggestion for anyone else going - the Imperial War
Museum. Certainly had not ever been on my “to do” list in London, but
my dd is very into military history, and the last time we were over
she arranged to do research in their reading room, which apparently
is one of the top in the world in military history. So I had all day
to browse the museum. It turned out to be a really incredible
experience, and a truly fabulous museum that neither promotes or
denigrates war, but simply has incredible exhibits examining war and
its impacts on people, animals, etc. While we were there they had
wonderful exhibits on War and Animals, and War and Children. They
have an ongoing age restricted looping video presentation on the top
floor on atrocities by humans against humans… extremely powerful
stuff… and really upsetting.
So any suggestions are welcome.
Thanks in advance!
Beth in SC
When we were in London six years ago, we had some favorite spots
that are worth exploring…We discovered in the Tower of London, a
turret that has a special room at the top that houses the
dismembered crowns( the jewels were put into new use age)…It was
really interesting to see up close the workmanship that went into the
royal crowns…There were also more stories about the origins of those
crowns/historical notes. And I believe that you can go many times
through the exhibit of the royal/crown jewels since this is
considered off season (unlike what you get during the summer
months-people mover, one time only).
Our other favorite spots were Bond St. and both The Victoria Albert
Museum & The British Art Museum… Even quaint, small shops in
downtown London held treasure troves of antiquities & oddities. I was
prone to ask locals about their favorite sites. We stay outside of
London and were 10 minutes from Windsor Castle–great for exploring
and admiring the Queen’s collections.We went several times and even
closed the place down one day…Outside the back gate is a small pub
where the Queen’s guards frequent & also some the locals-great to
take a break & have a bit of Guinness or tea… Take
care & have a safe trip!!! Congratulations to your sister, too…
The Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A),it has all sorts of
design/craft stuff and some beautiful jewellery, its near South
Kensington tube station. Also the Goldsmiths Hall, I think the
nearest tube is St Pauls. You could try Hatton Garden which is
Londons Jewellery Quarter. If you had time to travel further north
the Jewellery Quarter in Birmingham is like a step back in time it
has some great shops and a museum.There are links below.
Thought I would mention that the War Museum, I believe, purchased at
least one of the Anti-War Medals from the Velvet da Vinci exhibition
when it was shown in London.
Congratulations to your sister on being awarded the OBE, when I
started in this trade some 46 years ago, I used to make orders and
decorations for the Queen to present, although we did not make the
OBEs, they were mad by the Royal Mint. We made every decoration from
CBEs upwards. You will enjoy your day at the palace, I am sure.
Others
have suggested visiting the Tower of London, to see the Crown
Jewels, if you do, take note of the Royal Armills, which are a pair
of bracelets given to the Queen, by the Commonwealth at her
coronation. These bracelets were made in 1952 by the Master Goldsmith
who actually trained me. When I became a Master Goldsmith, I used to
deal directly with the then Crown Jeweller, at Garrard, when I was
making regalia. Another idea on your trip is to contact the
Goldsmiths Hall http://www.thegoldsmiths.co.uk,ask if you can visit
the Hall and see the building and their treasures. If you are
interested in the London jewellery area, take a trip to Hatton
Garden.
Have a good trip
Peace and good health to all
James Miller FIPG
Fellow of the Institute of Professional Goldsmiths
Freeman of the Most Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths
Freeman of the City of London
still trying to get my book of work published and looking forward
to retirement and working for fun!!! http://www.ganoksin.com/orchid/jmdesign.htm
Another idea on your trip is to contact the Goldsmiths Hall
Turn that link into http://www.thegoldsmiths.co.uk and it will work.
I know Jo-Ann already wrote on this, but I’ll say it, too. Windsor
castle, if one can get there and the Queen is away, is something not
to be missed. Many, many things about the castle and the chapel,
especially, but also a collection of items of all kinds that is
simply spectacular.
Two places well worth a visit are the Tower of London to see the
Crown jewels and a small part of the Royal armouries and the
Victoria and Albert Museum. The V&A has a gallery of superb
jewellery, some old, some commissioned especially for the museum and
very inspiring. If you want to see old jewellery then you should
visit Burlington Arcade in Piccadilly or the silver vaults in
Chancery Lane. this is round the corner from Hatton Garden which is
London’s jewellery quarter.
Thanks! Have done the V&A and Tower, and I think I’ve done Burlington
Arcade, but didn’t know about Chancery Lane and Hatton Garden or the
Goldsmiths until these posts. I did Windsor Castle years ago, but
don’t think my daughter has ever done that, so that might be worth a
try. We’ll try and check them out!
When I was in London, we made it to the Tower of London about an
hour before closing on a weekday. After stopping to visit the Ravens
(the main purpose of the visit there) I went into the Jewel museum
about a 1/2 hour before closing. There was almost nobody there. I
went down the moving walk, solitary, where I’m told there’s usually
throngs of people.
Here’s where it gets good. I asked a Yeoman Warder (aka Beefeater)
which stone was the Black Prince’s Ruby, actually a historically
misidentified Red Spinel. An astute question he said, and I
explained I was a jeweler from the USA and had written a book about
gems. He responded by giving me a personal, one on one tour of the
exhibits, pointing out specific gems and giving their history, etc,
until it was time to close up. Wow!
I will be in London at the end of May, so I’m wondering if anyone
has suggestions of jewelry stores/galleries to visit/look at as new
potential retail locations. Is anyone currently selling through a
store that they particularly like (or don’t like) working with in
London" Thanks,