William Griffith & Sons (Birmingham) Ltd

[Biscayne]

Jewellers of 55-57 Vittoria Street. This picture was taken at the Centenary Dinner and Social, Friday January 13th 1956, held at the Imperial hotel:



My Grandfather, Arthur John Walker, is 3rd from the left in the 3rd row. A full list of Directors and Employees is printed on the back of the souvenir programme:



This one taken on the premises in Vittoria Street:

 

[superdad3]

Browsing on the Forum, as you do, and came across this post [very interesting] & remembered seeing quite a description of the factory on the urban exploration site called "28 Days Later".

This site has lots of stuff on old Birmingham buildings & factories. Free to use but need to register [free] to use search function. I find the site fascinating. Here's a couple of pics about William Griffith buts lots more. https://www.28dayslater.co.uk/threads/william-griffith-sons-birmingham-july-2016.104387/

 

[superdad3]

William Griffith & Co. - some further notes

The original company was incorporated in 1856 and was originally located at 17 Northampton Street. It became noted for the quality of its jewellery and had a tremendous output. This is from an early trade catalogue [about 1923]:



In about 1929 the factory moved to premises at 55/57 Vittoria Street. They may have taken over an existing factory as the fittings etc look earlier - perhaps Edwardian? Here's a montague of their rings from around that time:

This Diamond and demantoid garnet marquise cluster ring was recently offered for sale at £5,300 and gives an indication of the quality and lasting value of their products.



The factory finally closed in 2011 and was put up for sale in I think 2018 according to Streetview. Not sure if it is still there or what used for. Can anyone clarify please? Here are a few more pictures from the exploration in 2016 mentioned above: