Something exciting is happening in Canadian jewellery, and the numbers back it up. The Canadian jewellery market generated USD 4.39 billion in 2025 and is forecast to grow at roughly six percent every year through 2033. Globally, jewellery is on track to climb from USD 381 billion in 2025 to USD 578 billion by 2033. Within that, hip hop jewellery — Cuban links, iced-out pendants, custom diamond statements — is one of the loudest, fastest-moving cultural drivers the industry has, with iced-out pieces officially taking the top spot from classic gold chains in 2025, and Cuban link demand climbing every year since 2012.
That is the backdrop. Now meet Hijan — one of the young Canadian hip hop jewellers ready to take a real piece of it.
Canadian Jeweller is featuring Hijan because his story is the kind of energy the next generation of Canadian jewellers needs to see: ambitious, original, proudly Canadian, and aiming straight at the world stage. For every young jeweller in Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Edmonton, and every small town in between wondering whether they can really compete with the names out of New York, Miami, and Los Angeles — Hijran’s answer is short and confident: yes, and the work has already started.
We sat down with him to talk inspiration, influences, his favourite pieces, and the dream commission he is ready to make.
Inspiration
“I’m really inspired by the goal of becoming one of the top-rated jewellers and working with the best in the game. In hip hop, jewellery means a lot. It’s about status, identity, and storytelling, so that pushes me to keep levelling up my craft. I’m not just trying to make pieces. I’m trying to build a name that stands with the top jewellers out there.”
That mindset is exactly the energy the Canadian trade has been waiting for. Bench skills can be taught. The hunger to compete at the top level is the part you bring yourself, and Hijan is bringing it.
Favourite hip hop artist
“My favourite artist is Lvbel C5. He’s from Turkey, and my background’s from there too, so that connection is real for me. I like his rap. It’s modern but still carries its own identity, and the way he presents himself feels natural and not forced. That’s something I pay attention to, because in my work I try to do the same thing. Keep it authentic, keep it clean, and build a style that stands on its own.”
Authenticity is the cheat code for the new generation. The Canadian jewellers whose names will travel, whose work will land on the world’s biggest artists, and whose pieces retailers will fight to carry are the ones who know exactly who they are. Hijran already does.
Favourite jewellery to make and wear
“When it comes to making jewellery, I’m always trying to create something that hasn’t been done before. I like being unique and pushing ideas so my pieces stand out instead of following what everyone else is doing. But when it comes to what I wear, I keep it more classic. I like Cuban links, whether they’re bussdown or not. It’s a timeless look that always works, no matter how much the style evolves.”
The market agrees with him. Cuban link chains today range from USD 10,000 at entry to over USD 250,000 at the high end, and search demand for Cuban links has been climbing nonstop for more than a decade. For Canadian wholesalers and retail buyers watching where to invest, designers who can deliver both forward-thinking customs and the classics that move every week — like Hijran — are exactly the best.
Favourite gem
“My favourite gem is diamonds, lab or natural. I like how versatile they are and the way they elevate any design. Whether it’s something subtle or fully iced out, diamonds always add that extra level of detail and wow factor.”
This is another signal of where the Canadian market is going. With online jewellery sales already accounting for nearly thirty percent of the Canadian market and growing fast, today’s buyer wants options, ethics, and style at every price point. Lab-grown and natural diamonds living side by side in one designer’s vocabulary is exactly that future. Hijan speaks both languages fluently.
Design a piece for an artist
“I’d design something for Travis Scott because he has a really unique and bold style. I’d make a custom Astro Relic chain — something inspired by space, like a distorted planet or asteroid with black and white diamonds and details around it that make it feel chaotic but still clean. I’d put it on a Cuban link with some custom touches so it’s not basic. I feel like it fits his whole vibe, because he’s not regular. Everything he does stands out, so the piece would have to match that energy.”
That is the level of conceptual thinking the global hip hop jewellery market is rewarding right now, and it is happening right here at a Canadian bench.
A message to young Canadian jewellers
If you are a young jeweller reading this and wondering whether you have to move south to make it, the answer is no — and the numbers prove it. The Canadian market is growing. The global market is growing. Hip hop jewellery is one of the most culturally powerful categories in the entire industry, and Canada has everything it needs to be a world capital for it: talent, buyers, trade community, and a platform. Canadian Jeweller magazine, Time & Shine — Canada’s biggest jewellery trade show — and Canada’s most prestigious jewellery competition all exist for exactly this reason: to give young Canadian jewellers like Hijran a runway at home that ramps straight onto the world stage.
While specific Canadian-only hip hop jewellery market figures are not yet broken out in published industry reports, the combined picture is unmistakable. The country is ready. The category is hot. The next world-stage hip hop jewellery name does not have to come from somewhere else.
It can — and should — come from here.
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