On a cloudy, rainy day, the natural light from two walls of windows still streams into JC Bradley Jewellers’ new location, on the corner of 30th Avenue and 32nd Street, in the heart of downtown.
Customers leisurely browse through the many display cases laid out in the shape of a heart, full of shimmering jewelry, showcasing the store’s extensive collection.
“We are thrilled with our new space. It’s nice to see outside and all of the activity,” said Richard Pierson, owner of JC Bradley Jewellers
“We have room to breathe all the way out.”
They opened the doors to their new 3,500-square-foot building in the beginning of September, giving them 2,450-square-feet more than their previous location at Village Green Centre.
The extra space leaves them with room to grow in the future, the ability to display their products properly and carry more lines.
Richard’s daughter Chantelle is a partner in the business and grew up shadowing her father.
“Chantelle is brilliant,” said her proud dad. “She has just about completed her gemology degree. She’s a graduate jeweller and she’s Pandora-certified.”
She started working alongside her dad when she was 15-years-old and has been active in the business for the last 10 years.
“It is every little girl’s dream to grow up in a jewelry store,” said Chantelle, when asked why she decided to follow in her father’s footsteps.
“I love fashion, I love style. I’m pretty girly girl, so for me (joining the family business), it was a no-brainer.”
“She is very fashion-conscious and really on top of it, and her generation is so much more adept on the technology of today,” said Richard, who opened JC Bradley Jewellers 32 years ago.
One of the lines they carry is Pyrrha, a Vancouver company that makes handcrafted replicas of historic wax seals.
JC Bradley features Canadian brands such as a Celtic line by Keith Jack, Maple Leaf Diamonds, and Canadian Rocks.
JC Bradley is the exclusive dealer of Pandora jewelry in Vernon, and the only dealer in the North Okanagan, and they carry watch brands Movado, Citizen and Nixon.
The larger space has also come with one very solid perk. The building used to house the Bank of Montreal and still contains its bank vault.
“It has 30-inch-thick concrete walls and we put a new state-of-the-art vault door on it,” said Richard.
“So the peace of mind for myself and my clients is that everything gets locked up at night.”
The new space has allowed them to have a bigger goldsmith shop with a separate polishing room, a specialized ventilation system, a watch maker’s room, laser welder and a much larger office.
JC Bradley has two goldsmiths that have been with them for many years: James Lalonde who has been with them for, as Chantelle puts it, “longer than I’ve been alive,” and Wade Barrett, who has been with them for just shy of 20 years.
“They do repairs, custom work and stone setting. From start to finish we can do anything and everything,” said Chantelle.