Have you wondered how Brexit might impact jewellery? While the top headlines have focused on the complications of exporting and importing less precious goods like cheese and wine – admittedly very important items – changes resulting from the UK breaking away from the EU will also impact how we buy and sell jewellery.  

With new rules in place, ordering a jewel online from your favourite Parisian boutique is no longer as straight forward as it once was, with additional taxes to consider. And for British jewellery designers used to exhibiting and selling their jewellery across Europe, their freedom of movement and trade will be much more tightly regulated. It will also make these cross-continent jewellery transactions more expensive, both for buyers and sellers.

There are also potential opportunities to be found in Brexit. Will we see a resurgence in the British jewellery community as more of us shop local and processes previously carried out overseas, such as manufacturing of jewellery, are increasingly done within the UK? Will other markets, like Japan and the US, suddenly become more interesting for British jewellery designers?

Toyin Laketu is a business and export development consultant at Onwards and Up, and a business management lecturer at University for the Creative Arts

Join The Jewellery Cut co-founder Rachael Taylor, The Future Laboratory foresight editor Kathryn Bishop, and export consultant and lecturer Toyin Laketu for a discussion on these issues and more in a talk organised by The Goldsmiths’ Centre.

Creative Links: Brexit for Creative Businesses will be held virtually on March 17^th, 2021, from 5pm to 6pm. As well as hearing key information on how Brexit is impacting the British jewellery scene and debate about how new ways of working could impact on future trends, you will also have the opportunity to put any questions you have to the panellists.

“Brexit, as we all know, is an evolving situation, but this talk will shed some light on what we know now and smart ways of working to the current rules,” says The Jewellery Cut co-founder Rachael Taylor. “Through her work consulting on Brexit-related issues and exporting for brands, Toyin has her finger on the pulse and will share some vital practical knowledge she has acquired. As a trends analyst, Kathryn has some fascinating insights to share about how Brexit might change more than just importing and exporting, but have a lasting impact on jewellery design and the way brands communicate with clients. This combination should make for a lively jewellery-focused discussion on a confusing chapter in our history for many. I do hope you can join us.”

Kathryn Bishop is the foresight editor at The Future Laboratory and vice-chair of The Goldsmiths’ Craft & Design Council 

The Creative Links: Brexit for Creative Businesses online talk will take place on March 17^th, 2021, from 5pm-6pm (GMT). To attend, you must book your ticket here