Walking into the museum, it was like stepping back in time. The museum incorporating the old Smith and Pepper factory was one of the major distributors of jewellery when it was in production. It was wonderful to see the different ways and methods they used to in the past, and in some ways, how similar they are to today.
The factory was bought in 1923 by the two founders, Mr Edwin Pepper and Mr Charles Smith. The two men worked hard at running the business and later in the 1960s, Smith and Pepper was responsible for the top 10% of jewellery made in Birmingham. Their children took over the role and continued until the 1980s when they had to then sell the business. At this time there was little money coming in and the owners had no choice but to sell. Having been up for sale for a year and with no buyers, in August of 1981 the factory had to close. Because of this, much of the factory was left the way it was. The machines were still functional and even some of the books and packaging was still inside. The factory was left like this till the Birmingham council bought the factory and turned it into a museum. The public could now go and learn about how the industry worked and how they made jewellery in the Jewellery Quarter.
With much of the practices for the business still being used today, the factory wasn't as outdated as you might think. From the way the business was run, to the way the jewellery is made, there are a lot of similarities that could be transferred to improve the way a jeweller works today.
It starts with the first room where the clients would meet and discuss the orders they would like to place. This is placed in one of the higher rooms of the factory and was decorated with welcoming and warm furniture. It is here where Eric Smith, one of Charles Smith's sons would sit down with the client and discussed orders and designs. Most of the jewellery that Smith and Pepper produced was made from gold and a majority was bangles and bracelets. With the orders being somewhere around 200 units, it would take Smith and Pepper about 6 weeks for the order to be made and sent out to the customer.
When an order was made, it would be sent down to the workshop. It was here where the head of the workshop and staff, Mr Tom Smith, also know as Mr Tom, would come in every morning at 6:30am to sort out the daily workload and delegate jobs to the staff in the workshop
Mr Tom would also be in charge of the gold. Every morning he would come in and sort out the gold that would be used for the day, weighing it and giving each person just enough to complete the tasks they had been given. Once the working day had come to an end, it was Mr Tom's job to then weigh the remaining gold from each employee to make sure that none had gone missing. Each employee was allowed a 3-10% gold wastage depending on the job the employee was doing. Engraving was one of the jobs that allowed the most of wastage, but anything over the 10% had to be explained. Because of this, each employee was very careful not to waste any gold and after each day the workshop was swept for the dust and then the dust was put into the kiln and melted down so that any gold dust could be reused.
Each job in the workshop had its own set of employees, they were divided up into to types of category's skilled and unskilled, the skilled jobs where the such jobs like engraving, mounter and soldering and were all men, these jobs took years to master and at the end of the training the person would only do that job in the workshop. All the skilled workers would be payed much more then the unskilled workers and would get a payed based on the days worked not how many pieces of jewellery where completed. The unskilled workers on the other hand where almost all women these where such jobs like polisher , plating and presser these where the lowest payed jobs, unlike the skilled jobs they would be payed by ow much they would work. With such jobs like the ones that use the stamp press the women would sometime loss parts of the fingers because of the speed they had to work in order to get payed a far wage. Even with this in mind working for a jewellery factory was still one of the safer jobs for the time has there was no danger fums and the factory's would be well lit.
Each job in the workshop had its own set of employees. They were divided up into to different categories, skilled and unskilled. The skilled jobs were like engraving and soldering and were all men. These jobs took years to master and at the end of the training the person would only do that job in the workshop. All the skilled workers would be paid much more then the unskilled workers. They would get paid based on the days worked, not how many pieces of jewellery were completed. The unskilled workers on the other hand, were almost all women. These were jobs like polisher, plating and presser. These were the lowest paid jobs. Unlike the skilled jobs, they would be paid by how much they would work. With such jobs like the ones that use the stamp press, the women would sometime lose parts of the fingers because of the speed they had to work in order to get paid a fair wage. Even with this in mind, working for a jewellery factory was still one of the safer jobs for the time has there was no dangerous fumes and the factories would be well lit.
The factory was bought in 1923 by the two founders, Mr Edwin Pepper and Mr Charles Smith. The two men worked hard at running the business and later in the 1960s, Smith and Pepper was responsible for the top 10% of jewellery made in Birmingham. Their children took over the role and continued until the 1980s when they had to then sell the business. At this time there was little money coming in and the owners had no choice but to sell. Having been up for sale for a year and with no buyers, in August of 1981 the factory had to close. Because of this, much of the factory was left the way it was. The machines were still functional and even some of the books and packaging was still inside. The factory was left like this till the Birmingham council bought the factory and turned it into a museum. The public could now go and learn about how the industry worked and how they made jewellery in the Jewellery Quarter.
With much of the practices for the business still being used today, the factory wasn't as outdated as you might think. From the way the business was run, to the way the jewellery is made, there are a lot of similarities that could be transferred to improve the way a jeweller works today.
It starts with the first room where the clients would meet and discuss the orders they would like to place. This is placed in one of the higher rooms of the factory and was decorated with welcoming and warm furniture. It is here where Eric Smith, one of Charles Smith's sons would sit down with the client and discussed orders and designs. Most of the jewellery that Smith and Pepper produced was made from gold and a majority was bangles and bracelets. With the orders being somewhere around 200 units, it would take Smith and Pepper about 6 weeks for the order to be made and sent out to the customer.When an order was made, it would be sent down to the workshop. It was here where the head of the workshop and staff, Mr Tom Smith, also know as Mr Tom, would come in every morning at 6:30am to sort out the daily workload and delegate jobs to the staff in the workshop
Mr Tom would also be in charge of the gold. Every morning he would come in and sort out the gold that would be used for the day, weighing it and giving each person just enough to complete the tasks they had been given. Once the working day had come to an end, it was Mr Tom's job to then weigh the remaining gold from each employee to make sure that none had gone missing. Each employee was allowed a 3-10% gold wastage depending on the job the employee was doing. Engraving was one of the jobs that allowed the most of wastage, but anything over the 10% had to be explained. Because of this, each employee was very careful not to waste any gold and after each day the workshop was swept for the dust and then the dust was put into the kiln and melted down so that any gold dust could be reused.
Each job in the workshop had its own set of employees, they were divided up into to types of category's skilled and unskilled, the skilled jobs where the such jobs like engraving, mounter and soldering and were all men, these jobs took years to master and at the end of the training the person would only do that job in the workshop. All the skilled workers would be payed much more then the unskilled workers and would get a payed based on the days worked not how many pieces of jewellery where completed. The unskilled workers on the other hand where almost all women these where such jobs like polisher , plating and presser these where the lowest payed jobs, unlike the skilled jobs they would be payed by ow much they would work. With such jobs like the ones that use the stamp press the women would sometime loss parts of the fingers because of the speed they had to work in order to get payed a far wage. Even with this in mind working for a jewellery factory was still one of the safer jobs for the time has there was no danger fums and the factory's would be well lit.
Each job in the workshop had its own set of employees. They were divided up into to different categories, skilled and unskilled. The skilled jobs were like engraving and soldering and were all men. These jobs took years to master and at the end of the training the person would only do that job in the workshop. All the skilled workers would be paid much more then the unskilled workers. They would get paid based on the days worked, not how many pieces of jewellery were completed. The unskilled workers on the other hand, were almost all women. These were jobs like polisher, plating and presser. These were the lowest paid jobs. Unlike the skilled jobs, they would be paid by how much they would work. With such jobs like the ones that use the stamp press, the women would sometime lose parts of the fingers because of the speed they had to work in order to get paid a fair wage. Even with this in mind, working for a jewellery factory was still one of the safer jobs for the time has there was no dangerous fumes and the factories would be well lit.
Once an order was made and finished, it would be sent to the office where the women would box the jewellery to be sent out. It would be all women that would do this job as it was thought one of the less skilled jobs much like the stamping and the polishing. The boxes that the jewellery would be sent in were just plain brown boxes. This was the norm for the time, as it would be up to the individual shop seller to put the jewellery in their own decorative boxes and packing. This means that even though Smith and Pepper sold jewellery all over the UK, and even abroad, the Smith and Pepper name isn't very well known. Even so the only way you'd know if you have some jewellery made by Smith and Pepper is the jewellers make on the jewellery itself.
Even with all the mass produced jewellery that is available today, it seems that there is still a market for the handmade bespoke jewellery. This is because most people want something unique and that is one thing that the independent jewellery design can offer a customer. What was surprising to me was that the tools they used back in 1923 are still used today. With some small changes, the majority still are the same. This shows that even today people like the older handmade jewellery.
It also shows that the business is still built around the customer. From the first step, Smith and Pepper had the client ask for jewellery and they worked with them to create the design they wanted. Today, although the designer might not have a big factory, and such a large quantity to make, they still work with a customer to give them that one piece they desire. Although the technology might have changed, one thing that stays the same and that's the importance of the customer.
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