Yesterday I took the train to Birmingham’s NEC for the annual Spring Fair, which includes a Jewellery Show.

The journey back turned into a bit of an epic because our fancy Virgin Pendolino train suffered a broken air pipe just outside Berkhamstead, where we sat still for two and a half hours. So my 70 minute train ride turned into a four and a half hour ordeal, giving me plenty of time to reflect upon what I had seen at the NEC.

Whilst I was there I attended a presentation given by Michael Allchin, Managing Director of the Birmingham Assay Office, and some of the information and insights here should be credited to him/The Assay Office.

The first point to note is that the show looked and felt busier than last year. Visitors to the show are mostly retailers looking for gift/kitchenware/art/toys/fashion products to sell to the general public, so the show is seen as a bit of a bellwether for the health (or otherwise) of major parts of the retail world.

So even if business hasn’t yet picked up, the number of visitors attending the Spring Fair points to a slightly more optimistic outlook as traders anticipate a return to growth in the months ahead.

The Jewellery Show at the Fair also looked busy as retailers restock for 2010 after a lacklustre 2009 when they held back from buying in many new product lines.

Beads seemed as popular as ever. The jewellery trade is a bit sniffy about beads, but bead products have definitely brought something fashionable to the jewellery world over the last couple of years.

Love ‘em or hate ‘em, they are basically a modern take on traditional charm bracelets of yesteryear, with 1970s charms such as lucky horseshoes, lovehearts, and dice giving way to colourful beads and tiny gold or silver accessories attached to jangly bracelets.

The recession (and, to some extent, fashion) has had an impact on the precious metals being hallmarked by The Assay Office.

They report that the number of gold items being hallmarked has more than halved over the last two years from 15.8 million in 2007 to just 7.0 million items in 2009. In contrast, the number of silver items being hallmarked has dropped by just 5% over the same period.

Against the backdrop of increasing precious metal prices, the trend away from gold towards much more affordable silver is clear, but the detailed figures for gold tell another story. The amount of 9 karat gold being hallmarked has declined dramatically, whilst the amount of higher purity gold (14K, 18K, 22K) gold has held firm or even increased.

So even though the majority of gold items hallmarked by The Assay Office are still 9K, the mix has changed and the percentages of 14K, 18K and 22K gold have all increased.

This demonstrates a trend that has been seen elsewhere over the last year or two: the squeezing of the middle market.

An element of the reaction to the recession has been the polarisation of markets – a flight to quality at the top end (hence continuing demand for high purity gold), and a demand for value at the bottom end (hence the switch away from 9K gold and into much more affordable silver).

Silver is key for what’s called ‘self-purchase’ jewellery – pieces that are seen in a shop (or online) and bought, perhaps on an impulse, as a present to oneself.

Platinum remains key for the bridal market (engagement & wedding rings), whilst 18K gold remains important for gifts – Christmas, birthday, anniversary etc.

White metals continue to dominate in jewellery – white gold, silver, platinum and now palladium (a lightweight and affordable alternative to platinum and 18K white gold).

All this talk of precious metals… what about diamonds? Well the Jewellery Show at Spring Fair is not a major diamond event, so there weren’t a lot of diamonds in evidence, but one thing I did notice was the continuing use of black diamonds in jewellery as an accent to provide stark monochrome contrast to white diamonds / precious metals.

And all those white metals are being used to set white diamonds too of course. Perfect for classical bridal jewellery: white diamonds set in white precious metal!

See our Diamondthrills diamond jewellery collection for some inspiration for wedding jewellery – all available for hire for weddings and for other special occasions.