Manchester

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Dazzle: Manchester

Manchester’s popular contemporary jewellery fair returns to add some sparkle to winter in the city

'It attracts mad-keen collectors – there’s a couple who fly in from Switzerland every year, stay overnight, spend around £2,000 and then fly home.’ Tony Gordon, curator and organiser of the annual jewellery fair, Dazzle, is excited. And with good reason – this is Manchester’s most popular contemporary jewellery fest. Every year over 100,000 visitors fight to get their mitts on necklaces, rings, cuffs and bracelets by Britain’s leading jewellers.

Dazzle has been running since 1981, and has been set in the neo-Gothic surroundings of the Town Hall’s sculpture gallery for just over a decade. The fair provides the perfect respite from the chilly charms of the Christmas market on its doorstep – and remains a retail favourite during the countdown to December 25. Fifty or so jewellers will be showcasing their work, with the pieces on display ranging from acrylic and aluminium trinkets to rings and necklaces whose sparkle comes courtesy of top notch gold, silver and diamonds. And if the credit crunch is biting, fear not: prices start at a wallet-friendly £10 (although they do spiral up into the thousands…).  
Dazzle Town Hall, Albert Square, M60 2LA (www.dazzle-exhibitions.com). Until December 31, 10am-6pm Mon-Sat; 11am-5pm Sun (except December 24, 11am-4pm). Closed December 25 & 26.

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