SJH News

In addition to our regular lecture programme we also run occasional special events.
For details of previous SJH events, click here.

Treasures of Gold and Silver Wire: SJH tour

The Worshipful Company of Gold and Silver Wyre Drawers have very kindly offered SJH members the opportunity of a special tour of their 400th-anniversary exhibition at the Guildhall in London.
The proposed dates are Saturday 7, Tuesday 10, Thursday 12 and Saturday 14 October. Further details will be available in the next JHT, 48.

For full details of the exhibition, please click here.

To book a place, please click here.

If a ballot is necessary for the date you have chosen, we will let you know, and give you the opportunity to switch to another date, if available. In the event of a ballot, guests will not be included. All unsuccessful applications will be refunded in full.
The deadline for bookings is 22 September.

Jewellery History Today

The latest issue, JHT 48, was published w/c 11 September. It has been sent to all current members and is also available on the website, together with earlier issues of JHT, and all articles published in Jewellery Studies here (members only).

Please let us know if you do not receive your copy at membership@societyofjewelleryhistorians.ac.uk.

Jewellery Studies

The latest JSO article, London ringmakers’ marks from the seventeenth century - David Mitchell and Hazel Forsyth is now available without charge here.

All articles in previous issues of Jewellery Studies have been loaded onto the website, and are available free of charge to all members here. To access earlier articles online you will need your current member's password. If you do not have a password, or have forgotten it, please contact us at membership@societyofjewelleryhistorians.ac.uk.

Pdfs of all articles, whether published originally in print or online, can be bought for £5 each by non-members here.

Ancient Egyptian gold: Maria Guerra

SJH members will remember Dr. Guerra's fascinating talk on 'Fresh scientific insights in ancient Egyptian gold technology' last September. We are very pleased to announce that the book has now been published by the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, Cambridge, and is also available as a free download.

For full details of the book and the download link, please click here.

Burglary at Kelham Island Museum

Sheffield Museums are calling on the public for their help in recovering several items relating to metalworking in the city following a burglary at Kelham Island Museum on Sunday 14 May.

For full details, and photos of the items taken, please click here.

SJH lectures online

The latest online lecture, by Rachel Church on The bright badge of courage: jewellery goes to war, which took place on 24 January 2023 is now available on the website here.

It is the intention of SJH to continue to make all SJH lectures available online in the future. Most lectures will still take place live at Burlington House, as previously, with simultaneous online access for members who cannot attend, but we hope also to provide some online-only lectures from speakers who cannot come to London.

For full details of the current and past lecture programmes, click here.

The Bead Study Trust

The Bead Study Trust was established in 1980 to continue the work of Horace C. Beck, pioneering researcher on ancient beads and ornaments. It was wound up in 2021 and its assets were donated to The Society of Jewellery Historians.

From 1983-2009, it published The Bead Study Trust Newsletter [ISSN 1463-9602], an international survey of research, events, exhibitions and recently published work about beads.
Digital copies of the Bead Study Trust Newsletters are now available on the SJH website to download without charge. To access these pdfs, click here.

Inside the Jewel Vault with Dr Beatriz Chadour-Sampson

In the latest podcast on Jessica Cadzow Collins (SJH member)'s website, Beatriz Chadour (SJH Council member) talks about herself, her family and jewellery.
This is the latest in a series in which the great and the good of the jewellery world put six pieces from their lives and careers in jewellery into a fantasy Jewel Vault.

It is available to view here.

History Gems

In this podcast, author and Tudor historian Dr Nicola Tallis considers aspects of jewellery with other authors and braodcasters. Discussing intriguing stories such as a daring attempt to steal the Crown Jewels, the secrets behind a supposedly cursed diamond, and exploring the creation of the world’s most famous Easter eggs, this is a fascinating podcast for both history and jewellery lovers alike.

It is available to view here.

The Staffordshire Hoard. An Anglo-Saxon Treasure.

The Society of Antiquaries have made made the full 688-page technical report on the Staffordshire Hoard, published in 2019, available for open access.

To download the pdf, click here.

Diana Scarisbrick: 50 years of Jewelry Expertise

Les Enluminures, founded in Paris in 1991 by Dr. Sandra Hindman, is a centre for research and retail of exceptional rings and early manuscripts. They have kindly made available to SJH members their podcast Podcast - Episode 10: Diana Scarisbrick: 50 years of Jewelry Expertise, which is a fascinating conversation with jewellery historian Diana Scarisbrick in which she discusses the origins of her interest in jewellery.

Young Members

SJH are delighted to announce that we have introduced a new membership subscription rate for Young Members. Anyone aged 25 or under will be entitled to a reduced membership fee of only £20, which will include all the benefits of existing membership. Young Members must provide evidence of age status, such as a scan of a passport or driving licence, to the Membership Secretary when completing their application form. Unfortunately we cannot back-date reduced fees for any existing members who qualify, but they will be able to claim the reduced rate at their next renewal date.

To join now, as a Young Member, go to Join us.

Password for accessing members-only pages

Membership of SJH is calculated on a rolling basis. Whenever you join, you will receive a full 12 months of value. We change the passwords, which allow members to access all the pages on the site which are restricted to members, each year on 1 October, but your current password will remain valid until you are sent a new one. You can only reset your passwword yourself if you have a current one - if it is out of date we have to reset it manually here at SJH. There is no automatic re-setting facility by email. If you have any problems at all, or any questions about this, please contact us here, and we will sort it out as soon as possible.

You can download an application/renewal form at Membership application, or renew online at Join us.

EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)

As many members will be aware, GDPR came into force on 25 May 2018. We emailed members to ask for their specific permission to continue to contact them in future, as we cannot do this, under the GDPR rules, without it. We will continue to send membership reminders and JHT to members who have not yet replied, but will not be able to send any other communications, such as invitations to special events. If you have not yet replied and wish to remain in contact please tell us NOW at membership@societyofjewelleryhistorians.ac.uk.

Full details of what records we carry, and how we use them, are available here.

Attendance at lectures

As a rule, members do not need to inform the Society of their intention to attend - unless they bring a guest. The Society will inform members well in advance if booking a seat is a requirement of attendance at a particular lecture. If you want to be certain that there will a place for you at a specific lecture, please feel free to inform the Society here.

The SJH Library

The Society of Jewellery Historians has a small library of books on jewellery which is available to members at the Society of Antiquaries, in Burlington House. For full details, contact us here.