NAJ News

Benevolent Society Ball

OVERALL SPONSOR:

We know the festive season can begin when the Federation’s Benevolent Society Ball has arrived. The 2021 extravaganza and inaugural NAJ Chair’s Award, sponsored by Windiam, has a fittingly sparkly new home.

The lure of the newly refurbished Grand Hotel in Birmingham was simply too hard to resist! What better way to mark the bouncing back of our industry; what better reward for a challenging (almost) two years?

Wining, dining and dancing aside, the evening is also the perfect opportunity to introduce and present a brand new annual award: the NAJ Chair’s Award. Very kindly sponsored by Antwerp-based diamond supplier Windiam, the award will be presented to an individual or business at the Benevolent Society Christmas Ball, overall sponsored by Parify Group, held on Thursday 9th December. A panel led by NAJ Deputy Chair, Harriet Kelsall will select the winner.

Announcing the award, Gary Wroe said, “I’m extremely excited to be introducing an award that recognises the contributions individuals and businesses have made in the close knit jewellery community. The last two years have presented immeasurable challenges for jewellers and their businesses and in some circumstances quite extraordinary actions have been taken to support workforces, communities, and projects.” going above and beyond to support a (or their) community, workforce or project.

The award-recipient announcement as well as pictures taken at the glittering event will wing their way to you very soon via the NAJ’s social media and the members’ newsletter. Don’t miss them!

The Grand Hotel, Birmingham

Opened in 1879, Birmingham’s original Grand Hotel has welcomed everyone from royalty to rock stars, think HRH The Prince of Wales, Charlie Chaplin, Winston Churchill and Greer Garson, as well as Malcolm X, Nina Simone and The Beatles.

When the hotel closed in 2002, a campaign by the people of Birmingham saved the much-loved landmark from demolition. And now – almost 20 years later and following a £50 million restoration – the Grand Hotel Birmingham is open once again. Beautifully restored and bursting with the wow factor, the Grand Ballroom is throwing its doors wide to some of Birmingham’s most glamorous occasions… one of which is (of course) our Benevolent Society Ball.

The NAJ Chair’s Award sponsor – Windiam

With the heritage of a third-generation diamond service company, Windiam has built a trusted, world-class reputation in just 25 years. We are delighted to sponsor the NAJ Chair’s Award, the criteria for which chimes perfectly with our own guiding principles.

We source and deliver an extensive selection of polished diamonds both to the world’s leading brands and jewellery chains, as well as smaller boutique shops.

Our ability to source large quantities of rough diamonds and resell them to the production centres, together with our large polished diamond purchasing power put us in a position to source diamonds at very competitive prices, which enables us to forward this advantage to our loyal customers.

Gon Raz, director, Windiam