Midland jeweller David Johnson in the middle of a new gold rush
Jan 30 2009 by Jayne Howarth, Birmingham Post
no longer liked, odd gold earrings and former treasured ephemera. The queues have not dissipated since and the gold market continues to thrive in these straitened economic times.
“People no longer have faith in banks or in property,” says David, who recruited TV antiques expert David Dickinson to be the “face” of the business for a year-long advertising campaign. “But one thing that is proving its worth is the power of gold.
“So they are taking their money out of banks and putting into gold: Krugerands and ingots are fetching premiums.
“When the economy strengthens, gold might ease off and find a new level, but at the moment there is a lot of confidence in it.”
Even he admits that he and his staff are surprised by just what cash customers are taking home when they take in their unwanted gold. “You look at this very small pile of broken chains and realise that it’s worth £300. The customer is amazed,” says David.
David Johnson, 56, is incredibly demonstrative. He has a presence about him and it was no surprise to learn that his first love was entertaining.
In fact, he didn’t enter the family business as the third generation of Johnsons after school. He was an actor. He appeared in the West End in 1971, playing in Tom Brown’s School Days. His co actors were no other than Roy Dotrice and Russell Grant and two young unknowns at the time: Keith Chegwin and Simon Le Bon.
He also appeared in a number of television series and, 35 years ago, was just about to go back for this third audition to play Tiny Tim alongside Albert Finney in the musical Scrooge when he experienced his road to Damascus.
His father, Rex, had just split from his brothers as business partners and was travelling to London with David to see if he could buy new stock for another venture he wanted to begin. A short conversation with his father en route made him realise he no longer wanted to pursue acting. “I just thought, maybe it’s time to change. I couldn’t see myself making a living for the rest of my life on the stage,” he said.
“I didn’t go to the audition. A week later my father, brother and I purchased a wallpaper shop in Wolverhampton.”
This was quickly turned into a jewellery shop. They haven’t looked back since, going from strength to strength to the point that
Rex Johnson and Sons are now in the position to sponsor the Mark and Jenny Pitman Racing Club.
Keen horse lovers, the Johnsons have part-owned 18 horses over the past 10 years, with one, Willsford, winning the Scottish Grand National and the County Hurdle at Cheltenham in 1989.
David, who wears a tie decorated with jockeys when we meet, is good friends with Jenny Pitman and agreed to sponsor her racing club last year. Recently, Frankie Dettori rode one of her horses that was emblazoned with the Rex Johnson and Sons silks.
The Johnsons have come a long way and it is appropriate to tag their story a rags to riches one. David’s great-grandfather, a Polish émigré named Joseph Josephson, was a rag and bone man, working, appropriately, near the Jewellery Quarter.
He changed his name to Johnson on the advice of a local bobby during the First World War and Grandfather Lou opened a store at Banbury market, selling fancy goods and cheap watches. David’s father Rex joined the family concern there at the age of 14, before striking out with his brothers, opening six carpet shops across Birmingham.
But it was the jewellery business that beckoned and the family have made both their name and reputation in the trade since.
They have built up an enviable collection of royal jewellery, having bought pieces from Princess Margaret’s collection, as well as exquisite jewels from the Duchess of Windsor sale in Geneva.
David’s younger son Ben – the fourth generation in the family business – runs the Dudley store, while his elder son Adam left the business to train as a solicitor. The businessman also has an eight-year-old daughter Charley with his second wife Amanda, a primary school teacher.
Family is clearly very important for David. He hosts family nights every Friday night and his eyes sparkle like diamonds when he talks about them, but there is a difference altogether when he talks about the charity he has been closely involved with for 25 years: the Gentleman’s Night Out.
This phenomenal charity has raised millions of pounds for chronically sick and terminally ill children. The charity, set up by his friend Arnie Kaplin, with the help of David and his late brother Robert and their friends, holds one gigantic fundraising event every year at the Metropole Hotel at the NEC, which attracts up to 900 leading businessmen from across the country.
The money raised from the event sends terminally-ill children to Lapland to see Father Christmas, buys specially-adapted wheelchairs for disabled youngsters and pays for groups of children with cerebral palsy to enjoy a holiday at Center Parcs.
It even sponsors Walsall’s gold medal-winning Paralympian Eleanor Simmonds.
David visibly fills up with emotion as he describes the joy the charity has brought.
“We work mainly with charities such as Wish Upon a Star but we also look for other small charities that don’t have professional fundraisers.
“We have a fantastic night and have an auction with incredible prizes. Then, around June we hold a presentation day and it is simply wonderful. We love it. It brings such a difference to these children’s lives.”
I guess it proves just what a diamond geezer he really is.
