JANUARY 2011 In this issue: Weston Beamor customer Guy&Max New designs for men from students at BCU How WB shone at Brilliantly Birmingham
FEBRUARY 2011 WELCOME CUSTOMER IN THE SPOTLIGHT Guy&Max Welcome to the first edition of Spotlight our new in-house magazine which we are now producing in collaboration with our sister company Domino. I do hope you will find this regular missive from Weston Beamor (you ll be receiving a copy every couple of months) interesting and informative. As you will see from the content, quite apart from offering perhaps one of the most comprehensive preciousmetal casting services available in the UK, Weston Beamor has a lot of other interests and plenty of projects on the go which we felt it was time we shared with you, our customers! As a company we are deeply committed to education and training and work closely with a number of universities and colleges to help ensure that the next generation to enter our industry is well informed about CAD/CAM production methods and lost-wax casting and wanted to take the opportunity to shine a spotlight on some of these activities. We also wanted to tell you about our involvement in Brilliantly Birmingham and Getting Started which we are proud to sponsor. Up-and-coming designers, such as Guy and Max who are featured in this issue, make up an ever increasing percentage of our work and we are proud to number them amongst our customers. Their cutting-edge designs are frequently extremely technically challenging and it is our great delight to bring them to reality. We will, as usual, be exhibiting at The Jewellery Show at Spring Fair Birmingham and can be found on Stand N40 in Hall 17. For those who don t know us personally this is a great opportunity to meet your contacts face to face and is also a chance to talk over any new projects you may have in the pipeline. We all look forward to seeing you there. Brothers Guy and Max Shepherd have over the past couple of years created one of the West End of London s most innovative and successful jewellery boutiques. Their shop Guy&Max which is situated in the most appropriately named Shepherd s Market, sells almost exclusively own-design product. This is jewellery which most definitely does not fit into a convenient pigeonhole, but which Max, when pushed, describes somewhat reluctantly as classic with a contemporary twist. Neither brother is jewellery-college trained, Max comes from a background in furniture design while Guy studied comparative religion. Jewellery is however in the blood as their father, with whom Guy worked for some 15 years before setting up Guy&Max, is a longstanding gemstone dealer giving the brothers access to the fabulous stones used in their own creations. I m not really that technical and Weston Beamor s knowledge of CAD and rapid prototyping is certainly better than mine, so its great to have their backup when I get stuck on something, says Max who is the design side of the partnership. Guy&Max like to fuse the traditional skills still available in the UK with new technology whilst utilising the high level of manufacturing competence which Weston Beamor can provide. We feel with platinum and gold prices going through the roof that we need to be more and more imaginative and CAD allows us this option. Our Fir Cone designs, which we have recently produced with Weston Beamor could never be cost effective to make traditionally by hand and that was the whole idea. These were extremely difficult to make in any case and have been done rather on the lines of an Airfix model with lots of bits and pieces ready for assembly by hand. Using Weston Beamor enables us to produce bespoke designs like these either as one offs or in limited numbers. It s a collaborative process and just what we need, says Max. Yvonne Brookes
STUDENTS IN THE SPOTLIGHT Ensuring a stream of new talent is essential for the health of the jewellery industry and Weston Beamor sees education as one of its top priorities working closely with a number of colleges to assist their students in gaining a clearer understanding of the commercial realities of jewellery production. A recent project has been our annual competition for second year students studying for an HND in Jewellery and Silversmithing at Birmingham City University. The competition, which is a compulsory element of the HND course, asked each student to create a range of jewellery for men using Gemvision s Matrix CAD software and to produce a computer generated advertisement to support their idea. The winning students were Owen Condon (who came first), Natalie Baxter and Cherry Wu. Owen s winning designs, which were based on tyre tracks, demonstrated not only a particularly clever use of CAD - in that he created cutting tools to make track patterns on the rings but also demonstrated great market awareness by producing a design which cuts down on the overall metal weight of the rings. Owen will receive a cash prize of 500, while the two runners up get 250 each. All three winners will also be given the opportunity to have a week of work experience at Weston Beamor, where they can further develop their designs. An opportunity which, in terms of their career development, could prove priceless. All three winners designs have also been brought to reality by Weston Beamor and the prototypes will be on show, together with the virtual designs and accompanying advertisements created by the whole group, on the Weston Beamor stand N40 Hall 17at Spring Fair Birmingham. Customers are invited not only to come along and see the designs but also to join us for the presentation to the winning students which takes place on the stand at 4.00pm on Tuesday 8th February. Design by competition winner Owen Condon. How Brilliant was that? Guests, including Weston Beamor s Chairman, Patrick Fuller attend the launch of the Flux exhibition as part of Brilliantly Birmingham which the company sponsors. BRILLIANTLY BIRMINGHAM, as many of our local customers will already know, is an annual festival, now in its 11th year, organised by Birmingham City Council to celebrate the city s rich jewellery heritage and its on-going reputation for jewellery design and production. Weston Beamor is delighted to be a key sponsor for this event which this year ran from 27th November to 9th January and profiled some 133 designer-makers at 35 different exhibitions and events across 20 of the city s key venues including mac, Museum of the Jewellery Quarter and Harvey Nichols. International designer-makers from Tallinn also took part in a special exhibition at Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery with a number jewellery-related events, seminars and selling exhibitions for emerging designers. As part of the Festival WB was pleased to be able to stage a well-attended event of its own in early December when we opened the factory to 25 jewellery enthusiasts. Participants had a tour of our advanced manufacturing facility combined with an informative Trends presentation from Domino s prizewinning designers Naomi Newton Sherlock, Kelly Hart and Siobhan Maher. Weston Beamor s own Ed Hole was also in the spotlight with a well-attended talk about the things that he knows best - manufacturing trends, the effective use of CAD and rapid prototyping.
FEBRUARY 2011 TRENDS AND FASHIONS ON THE CATWALK One of the highlights of The Jewellery Show is the Jewellery Catwalk in Hall 17. Here is where you will see some of the most cuttingedge and interesting designs including pieces from Domino s Trends and Fashions Collection Trends and Fashions - as the name suggests - is Domino s take on some of the hottest ideas for 2011. The collection was launched at IJL in September, where it met with much acclaim, and has since been expanded to create many exciting options for those seeking the definitely different. Whilst Trends and Fashions will be featured as part of the Catwalk show the full collection will also be on display on our stand for closer perusal. The fashionistas simply can t get enough of bows, scarves, ribbons and ties this spring and what could be more on trend, or more luxurious than Domino s Scarf Collection. Fine 18ct gold is used to create fabulous, fluid necklaces, earrings and pendants with real appeal to discerning women of all ages. The gold fabric has a surprisingly silky feel and is wonderful to wear against the skin. Anything floral is in this spring and the exquisite designs in our Rose collection of rings, earrings and pendants in 18ct rose gold set with diamonds, reflect the international movement towards organic, natural shapes. Large multi-faceted, fabulously coloured semi-precious stones especially blue topaz and amethyst - appear mixed with white and yellow gold and diamonds as pendants, earrings and rings in our Chequerboard range to create a look that is as eye-catching as it fashionable. The Trends and Fashions collections are something of a departure for Domino but early indications show that those customers who have seen it love it and that it is selling through particularly strongly for those who have already bought, says Marketing Manager, Ben Williams. For further information please contact Domino on 0121 236 4772 or email info@dominojewellery.com
IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE Valentine s Day is nearly upon us and for retailers seeking something special to tempt last-minute lovers Domino has the answer. Our heart-shaped pendant and earring suite in gold and diamonds is the ultimate romantic gift and is the perfect way to say I love you. The pieces, which have attractive contemporary styling and distinctive detailing to set them apart from the crowd, are available now from stock. They come in either yellow or white 18ct gold and are supplied pre-set with HSi brilliant-cut diamonds. For additional impact, each piece is supplied in its own stylish, heartshaped, red, papier-mâché presentation box. The suite will retail for under 500 whilst the earrings and pendant are also available separately leaving them within easy financial reach of all would-be Romeos. A selection of matching chains are available on request. LET DOMINO DO YOUR SETTING The Jewellery Bureau is a new facility from Domino which offers our customers a one-stop-shop for all their jewellery needs, including a stone sourcing and stone setting service. The Bureau comprises of GIA qualified experts and highly-experienced stone setters who are now at your service to provide the finished jewellery your business needs. All you have to do is choose the piece of jewellery you require from our extensive product range and The Jewellery Bureau will do the rest; setting the pieces you have chosen using either your own stones, or stones to your precise specification which our stone experts will source on your behalf. The Jewellery Bureau offers customers a tremendous add-on service, says The Jewellery Bureau s Manager, Jan Constantine. Our highly knowledgeable team can provide sound technical advice on all aspects of setting customer s jewellery as well as offering the competitively priced, expert and speedy sourcing of gemstones, should that be required. Where speed is of the essence The Jewellery Bureau can also save you time. Having your jewellery set and then hallmarked at Domino, using the sub-assay Office on our own premises, can really save customer s valuable time and is a tremendous boon to those who want something in a hurry, says Jan. For further information on the Jewellery Bureau please ring Jan Constantine on 0121 237 4910 or email jewellerybureau@dominojewellery.com
FEBRUARY 2011 DOMINO S NEW WEDDING RING COLLECTION GOES ON SHOW Wedding rings will be the big new story on Domino s stand at The Jewellery Show. Domino will use The Jewellery Show to launch its new dedicated wedding and bridal ring collection for both men and women. This collection is the culmination of a great deal of carefully targeted research into what today s brides and grooms require from their wedding jewellery, says Domino s Sales and Marketing Director, Andrew Sollitt. We believe it offers our retailers the choice their customers want across a range of different contemporary looks and a variety of crucial price points and feel sure it will be extremely well received. The range which has been designed in-house by Domino s prize-winning, new product development team, substantially extends the company s range of standard profile and diamond set bands whilst also offering some exciting new options including an all new duo range and men s collection. Domino has responded to its customers call for more dramatic rings for men with a number of striking designs echoing the popular engineered look and utilising a range of unusual textured finishes. We look forward to seeing you there at Spring Fair Birmingham, 6th - 10th February 2011, N 40 Hall 17.
Multi-stone bands for women are very much of the moment and Domino has provided retailers with an extended offering of pretty, feminine designs to fill the growing demand for fully and partially stone-set wedding rings. Why have just one band when you can have two, three or even four? Many of our new wedding bands look even better when stacked up deep. His and Her bands are another popular option and Domino s Duo bands, with their discrete diamond details, offer a fresh take on an old idea. So too our selection of shaped wedding bands which fit snugly against our most popular and unusually shaped engagement rings. Speed, quality and variety are of the essence when it comes to supplying wedding jewellery and the new wedding and bridal ring collection is, in most cases, available from stock for next day delivery. We can also offer real choice as all designs are available in all carats and colours of gold and in platinum. As with all Domino s products the wedding and bridal ring collection is supported by a fullyillustrated catalogue and a range of attractive images ideal for use at the point-of-sale. We look forward to seeing you at the show and to telling you more about our wedding collection and the many other exciting products we will have on display there.
FEBRUARY 2011 2011 In this issue: Domino s new wedding ring collection goes on show Trends and Fashions on the catwalk In the mood for love Let Domino do your setting