Thomas Fattorini: the Jewellery Quarter family firm nearing its 200th year

Some of the most recognisable pieces of silverware and enamel in British life have a quiet connection to a workshop in Birmingham's Jewellery Quarter. Thomas Fattorini Ltd, a family-owned maker of medals, insignia, trophies and badges, describes itself as a 199-year-old business, and it is still run by the sixth generation of the family.

The story starts with Antonio Fattorini, born in 1797 near Lake Como in Italy, who settled in Yorkshire and founded the business in 1827, trading in jewellery, watches and barometers. As the firm's medal and award trade grew, it looked to Birmingham, and in 1919 it opened its first factory on Hockley Street in the Jewellery Quarter.

By the late 1920s the company had moved into a handsome purpose-built factory on Regent Street, originally built in 1894 for the silversmiths Adie and Lovekin, and renamed it Trafalgar Works. It was here that Fattorini developed the vitreous enamel skills that made its name as a maker of badges, medals and trophies. Notable examples include the Lonsdale Belt for boxing and the FIFA Club World Cup trophy.

The firm's own timeline reads like a tour of national life: a mace commission linked to Churchill in 1937, a badge in space in 2011, the Olympic torch in 2012, the Rugby League World Cup trophy in 2018 and the commemorative Platinum Jubilee hallmark in 2022. Fattorini received a Royal Warrant of Appointment in 2008 and has supplied the Central Chancery of the Orders of Knighthood since 1975.

Craft remains at the heart of it all. The Birmingham works handles design, die-sinking, medal making, silversmithing, restoration and conservation, producing everything from mayoral chains and civic insignia to regimental silverware and bespoke sporting trophies. The company has also supported the British Art Medal Society's student medal project since 2002, helping young makers find their feet.

Its stated aim is refreshingly simple: to "make it once and make it well." That ethos sits comfortably in a quarter that is home to around 700 jewellery-related businesses and still produces a large share of the jewellery made in Britain.

With its bicentenary on the horizon, Fattorini is a reminder that Birmingham's great making traditions live on in family workshops like this one.

To find out more about the company's work, from school badges to ceremonial regalia, visit the Thomas Fattorini website.