The Laboratory at The Birmingham Assay Office is accredited by UKAS to ISO 17025 standard and follows rigorous quality assurance and quality control practices. The testing and analysis of precious metals, base metals such as nickel and lead, product performance and safety testing, project consultancy, scientific research and tailor made training courses are all services available to manufacturers, suppliers and retailers from industries as diverse as jewellery, toy, gift, home, medical, automotive, and electronic.

A plethora of health and safety rules and regulations now surround the production and sale of jewellery, especially jewellery for children. The Laboratory at Birmingham Assay Office is a source of useful information on what companies must do to ensure that their products comply with all aspects of current legislation as well as providing the facilities to test for their compliance.

Services on offer include a new quick test for nickel: developed by The Laboratory this makes the inspection process much quicker and less expensive.

The Laboratory also provides a series of useful tests to help manufacturers and retailers to ensure that their items are suitably sturdy and safe and that all parts, including leather watch straps and bracelets, do not contain any banned substances or ‘heavy’ metals such as lead, cadmium and mercury.

The Laboratory can also subject products to tests that mimic the effects of wear and tear including perspiration, humidity, high temperatures, salt water and swimming pools.  They will also test for flammability in accordance with legal standards .

Packing materials can have a profound effect on how much and how jewellery items tarnish and the Laboratory offers ‘pass’ or ‘fail’ testing methods for all types of packaging materials.