By the late sixteenth century Birmingham was renowned for its manufacturing industry, an industry founded upon metal work and typified by many small premises run by independent craftsmen. Over the next two centuries these craftsmen produced guns, swords, knives, locks and keys, buttons and buckles, boxes and toys, and jewellery: Birmingham became renowned for skilled work in silver, gold and precious gems. It also pioneered the use of machines in jewellery manufacturing, producing the first machine cut diamonds in England; the very first such diamond still hangs from the Lord Mayor of Birmingham’s Badge of Office. An Act of Parliament, in 1773, established an Assay Office in Birmingham, initially for silver only, but extended to include gold in 1824. It still exists, fittingly, based in the Jewellery Quarter - established now for some 250 years.
    Located on the edges of the Jewellery Quarter are the masonic regalia manufacturers, Light & Boston. At their base they have a showroom and small factory where aprons and collars are cut and sewn. Their medals and jewels are created by specialists in workshops within the Birmingham Jewellery Quarter, each operated by one or two craftsmen. This gives an individual quality to the jewels and medals and allows for the ready, and economical, creation of bespoke designs.
    To see how the complex enamelled jewel designs were both created and executed I visited the small workshop run by Dana White, one of the leading specialists in the art of vitreous enamelling with many years of experience. On occasion she also finds herself involved with the design work, negotiating directly with the Lodges over the symbolism which they might wish to see in their Founder’s, Centenary, or Bicentenary jewels. Construction of these items is labour intensive normally involving eight separate firings in a kiln for each individual piece. But this vitreous enamelling process, although complicated, effectively produces a durable and vibrant stained-glass finish.
    Various manufacturers have their strengths: that of Light & Boston is their ability to produce individual badges and other regalia. They specialise in very small production runs with minimal machine set-up charges. Their aim is not to mass-produce regalia – although they can do it if required. Furthermore they often collaborate with their customers on bespoke designs and, due to their use of small manufacturing enterprises and computer controlled milling machines, they can produce one-off designs or short runs with a profit to themselves and good quality for their customers.
    David Boston also pointed out that whereas many manufacturers have inherited the way they constructed regalia and have since seen no reason to change, Light & Boston have always begun from first principles in the search to find the best means to produce the desired product: for example, instead of using the traditional cardboard in gauntlets they always use the more durable neoprene.
    In the nineteenth century the main cost of a masonic jewel was in its metal content; today the cost is primarily labour. A modern Jewel can involve up to fifteen hand processes in the metal finishing and high quality vitreous enamelling. The lower quality cold enamelling only involves two processes and certainly such a jewel is cheaper, but looks it. Light & Boston never use cold enamelling because it is not as durable as vitreous enamelling being prone to scuffs and scratches and it can become brittle in old age.

Continuing to experiment

But new techniques and processes are appearing all the time and Light & Boston are always looking for ways of applying modern technology to their traditional craftsmanship: at present they are experimenting with a new technique based upon modern dental technology: ultraviolet cured enamel. They are producing prototypes for a manufacturer based in Continental Europe and hope, in the near future, to perfect the technique for use on masonic regalia. High quality at a good price; we can only benefit.