The international image of Canada has long been one of outdoorsy, nature loving and overall good-natured jolliness. Indeed, when one thinks about Canada, the mind is flooded with images of bears, the Hudson bay, beards and fluffy hats, mispronunciation of words ending in “out” and of course – snow, mounds and mounds of snow. However, this image is a complete misnomer. Canada loves swag, just as much as anyone else in fact, and in this article we take a look at the five best cities for jewelry in Canada starting with Toronto Jewelers.
Toronto, or “Hog Town” – the name given to it owing to the presence of the William Davis pork processing and packing factory – has plenty of other aspects that make it a place worth visiting. This includes its jewelers with top names such as The Devil’s Workshop, Gilding the Lily, Armed, Fair Trade Jewelry Co, Made You Look and Matsu. While some of the names of these shops may cause the odd eyebrow to twitch in surprise, there is a never ending variety of fine jewelry to ogle and drool over in each of these stores, however oddly named they may be.
Next we head to Vancouver, home to the mildest climate in Canada. The climate may indeed be cool, but the jeweler competition is far from it. Some of the finest names in the world are present here including Minichiello, Tiffany, Blue Ruby, Spence, Luksus Diamonds and of course, the aptly named Carats. These names are all synonymous with excellence and uniqueness with Minichiello the current favourite, with its fine offerings of select diamonds, fine wedding rings and luxuriously crafted necklaces, bangles and bracelets.
The next stop on our glittering tour of Canadian jewelers is Ottawa – business centre, seventh coldest spot in the world and home to the famous Rideau Canal which culminates in the world’s longest skating rink at a whopping 7.8km. If you’re shopping for jewelry here, it’s worth skating past Workshop Studio Boutique, where you can browse through women’s clothing while seeing which of the glittering diamond or ruby delights will match your evening outfit. You can also visit Bija Bijoux, Wunderkammer and the highly rated Bob Thompson Jewelers.
Our penultimate destination is Calgary, a city nestling at the feet of the Canadian Rockies and affectionately named Cow Town owing to its vast grassland. Topping the jostling list of jewelers here is Brinkhaus Jewelers, renowned for their fine selection of men’s and women’s watches. Next on the list is The Goldsmiths at 53 14 Street, who are currently celebrating their 45th anniversary. They have been supplying beautiful jewelry for a long time, and their reputation for charm, elegance and excellence truly precedes them.
Our final stop on the whistle stop tour of Canada’s jewelry boutiques is Montreal, home to the highest number of restaurants per capita in Canada as well as the famous underground city – a maze of tunnels that run beneath the city for over 30km. Nestling on top of these tunnels in the broad daylight of Montreal, are some of the finest jewelers to grace the Canadian high street. These include such distinguished names as Freitag, Noel Guyomarch, Laurentian and Tiffany’s.
