David Dudley Jewellery News

March 2012 - The Diamond Jubilee Collection

We are delighted to launch a jewellery collection to commemorate the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II. David has designed a collection based around the Diamond Jubilee Hallmark. The collection comprises a bangle with a detachable Jubilee charm, charm bracelet, necklace and cufflinks. All the pieces are handmade by British craftsmen in sterling silver and hallmarked in Birmingham. Each piece has also been hand set with a small brilliant cut diamond.

Christmas Competition 2011

We are happy to announce that Mrs S Gale is the lucky winner of our Christmas Competition winning a spa day for two at Whatley Manor travelling to and from Whatley Manor In a Greenman Tour Bentley.

RAF Polo Team Competition
Congratulations to Mrs Taylor for winning a pair of Diamond stud earrings in our Polo competition.

Summer 2011 Newsletter
To read our latest newsletter click above.

July 2011
David Dudley introduces two new designers Tom Mc Ewan and Andrew Geoghegan.

15 March 2011 Best Jeweller in Wiltshire
David Dudley has been awarded the Best of Wiltshire Award and was voted best jewellers by the readers of the Gazette & Herald Wiltshire newspaper.

22 January 2011 Open Letter to Retail Jeweller Magazine
We are all aware of the horrors that are being inflicted on the people of Zimbabwe by their President Robert Mugabe. This wonderful country was once the breadbasket of Africa, and now, because of President Mugabe's actions and atrocities it is the poorest country in Africa. A very moving speech given by Senator Rob Bennett in Paris on 12^th November 2010 made it very clear how President Mugabe has suppressed his people by military force, torture and murder.

It has come to my attention how China is clearly supporting President Mugabe. The discovery of the Murange Diamond Mine and its valuable resources has resulted in China taking full control of this mine, using its own Chinese labour force and flying the diamonds directly back to China for polishing - no Zimbabwean has any contact with the operation. The arrangement is that China gives President Mugabe cash and military arms to control his people by force. The £800bn from the mine will never be used to help the starving people of Zimbabwe or to revitalise the country. All this information is freely available and articles have been published in the Daily Mail and other tabloids.

What is the Kimberly Process doing to stop this trade in these blood diamonds? - Nothing. They are behaving like toothless tigers. The public are becoming very aware of our lack of action on this issue and are quite rightly beginning to question our integrity.

How can we, the retailer, take some positive action? By obtaining blood diamonds from Zimbabwe at an artificially low value the Chinese diamond jewellery business is able to sell cheap diamond jewellery to the Western world. The Chinese diamond industry is now dependant on exporting their goods to us. Unless the Chinese suppliers can prove an ethical route to market, we must stop buying this jewellery and we must make China accountable.

As from 2011 I have decided not to purchase Chinese jewellery and to continue supporting British and European manufacturers. Many manufacturers are closing down because of these cheap imports and that concerns me. Our finest craftsmen are loosing their jobs and slowly but surely our great heritage of being the finest in the world will be gone forever.

The Goldsmiths' Company Technical Journal (Issue No 12) informs us of the fantastic new building being constructed to accommodate the state of the art facilities for our young craftsmen. How wonderful is that, but if all our manufacturers close down because we continue purchasing poor quality imports what will be their future in 20 years time when they should be reaching their prime?

By making a moral stance on blood diamonds we will also be supporting the future of our own industry. We can compete! Say NO to blood diamonds from China and be proud to give our customers the finest and the best from the UK and Europe.

David Dudley