Midland jeweller David Johnson in the middle of a new gold rush
Jan 30 2009 by Jayne Howarth, Birmingham Post
Jayne Howarth spoke to David Johnson about charity, treading the boards and the price of gold.
It was a dilemma I had not encountered before when preparing for an interview. I found myself panicking about what to wear. Not clothes, you understand, something entirely different: accessories. More specifically, jewellery.
I was meeting David Johnson, the managing director of Rex Johnson and Sons, one of the most well established family jewellers in the Midlands.
Decisions, decisions. Eventually, the choice was made: a modern silver necklace and matching earrings and a white and yellow gold ring with inset diamonds that was bought for a significant birthday. There, done.
I meet David Johnson in Bank, Brindleyplace. When I arrive he is sat at the bar, Bloody Mary in one hand, mobile phone in the other. With a small crisis at one of his shops averted, he beams widely and quickly switches off the phone.
He doesn’t look as I expected. No jewellery adorns his fingers; from beneath his shirt cuff is revealed an understated gold watch with brown leather strap. He wears no cufflinks. Even his spectacles are rather plain, silver-rimmed Prada affairs. This is not a man in the bling.
Rex Johnson and Sons was established 35 years ago, when a small shop was opened in Wolverhampton. That no longer exists (it was closed down just a couple of weeks before the riots scarred the town in 1981), but there are two others: Dudley and Birmingham.
The shops are distinct from other jewellers’ offerings. For Rex Johnson and Sons are more involved in antique jewellery. They are treasure trove trays of gorgeous rings, elegant pearls, 24-carat lockets, stunning watches; a veritable Aladdin’s Caves of intricate, hand crafted pieces from the past.
“You get real satisfaction from selling an antique piece of jewellery,” he says, before ordering a lunch of beef bourguignon with seasonal greens and a glass of merlot. “You can see the skill in the piece. It really is a joy to look at the hand-engraving, the hallmark and settings.”
But the past 12 months have seen some extraordinary changes. Almost overnight the business turned its attention to buying gold – and has not looked back since the gold rush began.
Gold has spiralled in price over the past year and its inexorable rise is set to continue this year. At the time of writing, a gram of nine carat gold was being purchased by Rex Johnson and Sons for £6.30, while 24 carat will fetch £16.80.
A year ago, David Johnson told a local newspaper that gold was the highest price it had ever been – it was. The next day there were queues outside his Dudley shop in Birdcage Walk, full of women with bags of broken bits of gold necklace, pieces they
