Earlier this year, we had a immense pleasure of working with Birks and featuring the retailer’s CEO on our May/June 2014 cover. The photo shoot for the story was done at Birks’ stunning flagship location in Montreal while the editor of Canadian Jeweller Magazine, Irina Lytchak, had the opportunity to sit down with Jean-Christophe Bédos at the Bay and Bloor Birks store when he was visiting Toronto.
At the time, we discussed what Mr. Bédos has done for the brand in order to make sure that the iconic jewellery retailer continued to stay prominent in the market and what excitin plans the company had in store in the near future. Birks was also on the verge of celebrating its 135th anniversary at the time.
It’s has been nearly seven months since that cover story collaboration and there have been a lot of exciting news circling the jewellery retailer ever since. First of all, Birks announced a unique and ground-breaking initiative to support the preservation of honeybees, whose extinction threatens the global population. The company released a collection of bee-themed jewellery pieces including a silver honeycomb-shaped pendant from which 10 per cent of proceeds have been going to the Honey Bee Research Centre at the University of Guelph in Ontario.
The brand launched two other bee-themed collections for babies, including Birks Busy Bee and Birks Bee Sweet.
In the past few months, Birks also took part in the Toronto International Film Festival, by unveiling a 22ct Canadian diamond necklace at a ‘Champagne & Diamonds’ event at the Shangri-La hotel and by honouring Canadian women in film at an exclusive evening held at the Birks Toronto location on Bay and Bloor. To celebrate the company’s 135th anniversary, a number of Birks’ clients and partners were treated to a gala at the Shangri-La Hotel in Toronto, where Mr. Bédos recognized the work and achievements of Dr. Ernesto Guzman, Professor and Head of the Honey Bee Research Centre School of Environmental Sciences at the University of Guelph in Ontario by awarding him with the prestigious Birks Canadian Diamond Award.
We are honoured to have had the opportunity to work with such a renowned Canadian name and look forward to continuing our partnership in the future. CJ
