FALL/HOLIDAY 2015

+ SOME HALLOWEEN

FUN!

THE NORTHSTAR

Largest diamont cut from a stone

mined in Canada

THE GALLERIA& SHERWAY GARDENS

DECO DELIGHT

DAZZLING T IMESAT MAYORS

OURquarterlygemsI SOLD IT!it’s about time...

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5HOLIDAY MESSAGE FROM

JEAN-CHRISTOPHE BÉDOS

7HOLIDAY MESSAGE

FROM AL RAHM

Quar terly Gems

8WHO MADE THE CUT?

Find out who shined the most during the last quarter

Behind the Carat

10A HEARTFELT NOTE

A touching story from one of our customers

12I SOLD IT!

IT ’S ABOUT TIME.. . A story about the importance of

never giving up on clients

14LOVE THEM, LOVE THEM.. .

A truly special birthday gift

14JUST BECAUSE.. .

Life is a gift that should be celebrated everyday

Gold Mine

15AN EVENING OF FUN, FOOD, AND KNOWLEDGE Baume & Mercier training event in Florida

Deco Delight

16THE GALLERIA

17SHERWAY GARDENS

Dazzling Times

18TEAM BOCA RACES TO THE F INISH L INE Event to raise money for the Special Olympics

20A ROYAL AFFAIR Special event to raise money for the Orlando Shakespeare Theatre

Jewelr y Box

23HALLOWEEN EH? Corporate Office get together for Halloween

24THE NORTH STAR Largest diamond cut from a stone mined in Canada

26AUTUMN CHANGES Seasonal Poetry

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CONTENTS

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I ’M PLEASED TO PRESENT to you the new Birks Group newletter… the B&M! I would first like to thank all of you for your suggestions because they were very useful to help me find the new name of the newsletter and also the title of each section. I would also like to thank Francis Guin-don and Kim Samson in Marketing for their help. Last but not least, I want to thank all my contributors for this edi-tion: Jean-Christophe Bédos, Linda Longo, Al Rahm, Frank Cimilluca, Pierre Bouyer, Deena McNeill, Allana Miller, Grace Reagh, Shirley Good Ingold, Maya Dzombic, Linda Schultes, Neenah Dreslin, Jesse Drago, Mick Howard, Hei-di Boermeester, Greg Fletcher, Sophie A. Lancry & Hélène Messier because without you, there wouldn’t be a B&M.

Why did we choose the name B&M? We were look-ing for something short and catchy that would sound good in both English and French… what a challenge! This signature represents the strength of both brands, what unites us under the Birks Group banner. The letter B stands for Birks and M for Mayors since this newslet-ter is for all employees, Canadians & Americans alike.

After choosing the name, we decided to separate the edition in various sections according to the main theme of each article. You will find six different sections in this edition: Deco Delight, Quarterly Gems, Behind the Carat, Gold Mine, Dazzling Times and Jewelry Box.

MARI E- ÈVE L AROC H ETRANSLATOR & EDITOR

Section Deco Delight will be about new store open-ings or renovations and everything related to visual dis-plays. Section Quarterly Gems will include articles about recognition to celebrate employees outstanding perfor-mances during the quarter. Section Behind the Carat will talk about in-store sale stories and everything related to behind the scenes of a project. Section Gold Mine will include articles about product knowledge, trends, new products and training in-store. Section Dazzling Times will be about special activities or events tak-ing place at the office or in-store including charity. The last Jewelry Box will include short articles or highlights.

I hope you enjoy reading this edition.

Happy Holidays to all!

A NOTE FROM THE EDITOR

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HOLIDAY MESSAGE FROM OUR PRES IDENT & CEO

F a l l / H o l i d a y 2 0 1 5

As you all know, we are entering the most crucial weeks of the year for Birks and Mayors, and I would like to take this opportunity to per-sonally congratulate and thank ALL of you for your hard work.

The year 2015 was a remarkable year for our Company; we made important decisions and significant investments.

Indeed, we made a strategic decision to sell the Corporate Sales division to our partner Rideau Recognition Solutions. This initiative will allow us to focus more on our Retail stores and on our goal to remain the leader in the luxury industry in jewelry and timepieces in Canada, Florida and Atlanta. Additionally, we deployed considerable efforts to enhance our customers’ in-store experience – including investing in the renovation of the five Birks stores, and remodeling of two Mayors stores in Florida. I would also like to mention that we will soon open the first Van Cleef & Arpels boutique in Canada in our Vancouver West Hastings Flagship store.

On the Merchandising side, this year we launched the new Rock & Pearl collection. Over the last two years, we have had a huge success with the Rock & Pearl and Bee Chic collections, that will continue to allow us to distinguish ourselves from the competition. We also extended our cur-rent Birks Muse jewelry offering with the promising Muse Ribbon, and successfully relaunched the Salon division.

Finally, I would be remiss not to mention the media buzz surrounding our 15 carat North Star diamond, the largest Canadian diamond ever cut which was sold in our Montreal Flagship store in early October.

From a Marketing perspective, we launched at the beginning of the year the 1879 by Birks magazine in Canada and the Mayors magazine in Florida that will help promote our products, our stores, all of our partner brands and most importantly, the Birks brand. We also reinvented ourselves in our marketing campaigns by associating our collections to famous Canadian faces recognized worldwide. Singer Kiesza for Rock & Pearl and actress Rachelle Lefebvre for Amorique are a huge success throughout Canada.

For the Holidays this year, all our stores will receive an unprecedented stock replenishment of jewelry and timepieces collections as we do not want to miss any opportunity to achieve our sales goals!

You worked very hard last year to surpass your-self in November and December and I am confident that YOU will all be great champions again this year!

In closing, on behalf of Birks and Mayors, and myself, I would like to thank each and every one of you in mak-ing our Company a better place to work, live and learn!

Wishing you Happy Holidays and much success!

DEAR MAISON BIRKS, MAYORS AND BRINKHAUS TEAM MEMBERS, It’s time to celebrate the holidays! As the 2015 holiday season approaches, my thoughts turn gratefully to all of you who have made our success possible this year. I wish I could thank each and every one of you personally.

This month, our holiday shoppers and clients will look to us to help them create holiday memories that their family, friends and colleagues will forever remember. As they do every year, they are looking to us to help them select the perfect timepieces and jewelry. We have an outstanding collection of merchan-dise and with our knowledge and expertise, we can make this holiday season one that they will always remember.

I realize that the next few weeks will be challenging! In retail, we simply don’t slow down. I know you will work from early morning until late at night many times. I know that you will often skip meals, be late for family gatherings or complete your own holiday shopping at the last minute because you put the needs of our Company and our clients before your own. That’s just one of many qualities that make this retail team the best in the industry. I need you to continue to do what you do best until we close the gates on December 24. We need to have a great holiday season. We cannot allow one client to walk out of our stores without making a purchase. Anyone who we don’t close, we must turn over to another sales

AL R AH MEXECUTIVE V ICE PRES IDENT RETAIL STORE OPERATIONS

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professional or member of management. Even when you are able to close a sale on one item, introduce the client to another team member so they can extend holi-day wishes or congratulations on a purchase. I have seen this type of conversation lead to a second or third sale so many times during my career. Never stop selling!

I want to thank you for all that you have done this year and for what you are about to do in the upcoming weeks! I am very proud of this team - everyone in our stores and in our corporate offices - you are the very best team of professionals that exists in luxury retail today!

And when it’s all over, may you find time to enjoy life’s simple blessings that you all deserve. You have my most sincere thanks!

Warm Regards,

HOLIDAY MESSAGE FROM OUR EXECUTIVE VICE PRES IDENT,

RETAIL STORE OPERATIONS

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Find out who shined during the last quarter!

WHO MADE THE CUT?

BARBARA STERN W r i t e r F r a n k C i m i l l u c a D i r e c t o r , R e t a i l S t o r e s

Barbara Stern, who we all know as “Babs”, is a record-setting sales pro-fessional in our Mayors store at Boca Town Center. Babs joined Mayors in 2008 as a Store Manager in our Aven-tura store and was promoted to Store Director of our Broward store. Upon closing that store, Babs returned to what she loved to do in her career – selling! Babs has written over $1M in sales for the last three years at Boca, this past year achieving her record high and personal best $2,900,000!!! When Babs isn’t at work delivering outstanding client service, she enjoys cheering on the Mets, watching foot-ball and taking care of Rocky – her 11-year old rescue dog who she abso-lutely adores! Babs is a devoted daugh-ter, mother and sister with family in San Francisco and New York. Though one will always find her enjoying a “healthy lunch” at work, her co-workers will tell you about her super sweet tooth for chocolate and peanut butter! Congratulations and thank you, Babs!

CHERYL HAYDUK W r i t e r F r a n k C i m i l l u c a D i r e c t o r , R e t a i l S t o r e s Cheryl Hayduk joined Mayors in 1994 as a part-time sales professional in our Northpoint store in Atlanta. Since then, her career has taken off many positive directions. She was promo- ted to a full-time sales professional, a Store Manager in our Buckhead store and today serves as Store Director of our Phipps Plaza store in Atlanta. Originally from Pittsburgh, Pennsyl-vania, Cheryl and her husband Ray, spent time in Raleigh, North Caro-lina before settling in Atlanta, Geor-gia. When Cheryl isn’t driving sales and building an outstanding team at Phipps, she enjoys antiquing, bik-ing and her green thumb produces some of the most beautiful flowers in her absolutely, exquisite backyard garden. Cheryl has one daughter, Melissa, who lives in California. When asked what drives her per-sonal success and enjoyment in life, Cheryl believes that one should “take every task and do it to the best of your ability and take every moment that life offers, and live it to the fullest!” Congratulations and thank you, Cheryl!

Q U A R T E R L Y G E M S

KAREN CHORNAWKA W r i t e r D e e n a M c N e i l l D i r e c t o r , R e t a i l S t o r e s

Karen Chornawka joined the Mai-son Birks Chinook Centre team in 2009 and has been a bright star since. Karen’s enthusiasm and passion for providing the very best experience possible to every client that walks in the door is nothing short of inspir-ing to everyone on the team. Karen’s positive energy and sparkling person-ality make every client feel so special, like they are shopping with a good friend not just making a purchase. Karen goes out of her way to put the client first in every decision, and consistently demonstrates what true luxury service really is. Karen is pa-tient and attentive, and always willing to contribute all that she can to assist her team to achieve their best, and for that, Karen is absolutely loved amongst her team and her clients. Thank you Karen for all of your time and efforts and your con-tinuously positive attitude.

IHAB MIKHAIL W r i t e r P i e r r e B o u y e r D e p a r t m e n t M a n a g e r Ihab Mikhail just celebrated his 10 year anniversary at Maison Birks by closing a 5 million dollar sale!Included in this sale was the famous 15,1 carat diamond, the big-gest diamond ever mined in Canada.Proven Million Dollar Writer for many years now, Ihab is always consistent in his numbers and this sale is the successful outcome of years of hard work, effort & persistence. A great example for all the Montreal team which proves that we can too close big sales! Congratulations Ihab for your great performance, we are all sincerely proud of you!

ELAINE TOTO W r i t e r A l l a n a M i l l e r S t o r e D i r e c t o r

Elaine Toto of Birks Rideau Centre is a true treasure of our company and we are so proud to offer our congra-tulations as she celebrates her 40th anniversary with us! She originally started with Birks back in our previous Sparks Street location in Ottawa for the Christmas season and has grown exponentially throughout the course of her time with us. She is known to be one of the most passionate, car-ing, and positive women you could meet and she is always eager to come to work to create and celebrate new milestones with her team and clients. For Elaine, the best part of her job is the people she works with, and she continues to prove this every day by going above and beyond, showcasing the true meaning behind exception-al client service (in one of her most recent sales she even helped a client to find a place to have her ears pierced so that she could wear the perfect pair of Birks diamond earrings that Elaine found for her!). Congratulations, Elaine! We can’t wait to celebrate many more anniversaries with you!

Q U A R T E R L Y G E M S

I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge the extraordinary service I received from the staff and manage-ment of the Maison Birks store in Victoria, BC. My partner of 7 years and I purchased my beautiful engagement ring set from Birks on June 6th, 2015 with the help of Cathy. This was a new experience for us, but Cathy treated us with nothing but respect in explaining all of the important aspects of en-gagement ring shopping that we were not familiar with. She was incredibly professional and accommodating, and we were beyond pleased with how comfortable she made us feel.

Although we were already more than pleased with the cus-tomer service offered to us by Maison Birks, it was the events of July 14th-15th that were truly outstanding. On July 7th, 2015 my father was diagnosed with terminal liver cancer. Due to my father’s ailing health and our desire to have him be a part of our wedding, we began planning our wedding for July 15th. Unfortunately, I had sent my new ring away through Birks to be resized, with it not being scheduled to be ready until July 15th. I phoned Birks on July 10th to see if it was possible to have the ring back in time, but was told that it was already in the mail. I was disappointed at the pros-pect of not having my ring for my wedding ceremony, but with my father’s attendance being the most important part, I decided not to worry about it and use a substitute instead.

On the morning of July 15th, I received a phone call

from the Victoria, BC Maison Birks manager Cheryl to let me know that my ring had just arrived. I was thrilled, but the store was a two hour drive from where I was get-ting married. Luckily I had family coming from Victoria that day, so they were able to pick up the ring and bring

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it to the ceremony. But it was Cheryl’s offer that was truly outstanding. Knowing my circumstances, Cheryl actually offered to leave work that morning and personally drive my ring from Victoria to the Comox Valley (2.5 hour drive) to ensure I received my ring in time for my wedding ceremony! Even though my Aunt was able to pick it up for me, I was absolutely amazed at Cheryl’s offer. The offer of driving a 5 hour round trip just to bring me my beauti-ful ring was outstanding. I told all my wedding attendees of the amazing customer service I received from Maison Birks, and will continue to recommend their products and services to my friends and family for many years to come.

It is rare to experience such exceptional custom-

er service in a time where human interaction is be-ing replaced by online shopping and people are choosing cheap products over quality products. Maison Birks is a reminder that it truly pays to support local businesses and the value of good customer service.

I will personally be thanking both Cheryl and Cathy

at your Victoria location next time I am in the city, but I felt it necessary to notify the company of the exception-al service I received during such difficult circumstances.

Warm regards from two very happy customers, Nadine and Jesse Finlayson

A H E A R T F E L T N O T E

B E H I N D T H E C A R A T

In this story “Time is a game played beautifully by one of our Elite Sales Professionals”. This is an example of how diverse cultures, history, understanding, rarity, fine arts, power of the brand and especially superb client development skills - all combine to create Reasons to BUY. Not only does this group of timepiece sales touch on connections around this world – it also includes worlds outside our solar system!

Xiaorui Zhu, “Yuki” continually keeps in touch with her clients over many months. With her trusty smart-phone in hand and constant non-invasive commu-nications – she engaged and elevated two clients into important Van Cleef & Arpels Timepiece aficionados.

Yuki’s subtle probing over time revealed her clients’ high knowledge and level of understanding for complicated and limited edition timepieces. When VCA launched limited edition Chinese Zodiac themed extraordinary dial watch sets, Yuki extended a personal viewing appointment for one client. He was highly interested and motivated to collect a set. However, the timing and frame of mind for a purchase was postponed. Yuki did not give up on this client. When a VCA Midnight Planetarium became avail-

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able, Yuki kept in touch explaining the connection of astronomy with watch making. The Midnight Planetari-um Poetic Complication’s dial displays various gemstones indicating Earth, Saturn, Mercury, Mars, Venus, and Jupiter representing the 6 planets visible from Earth in ad-dition to other symbolisms. Only 20 of these watches have been made so far – and this is the first one sold in Canada.

I S O L D I T ! I T ’ S A B O U T T I M E . . .

B E H I N D T H E C A R A T

S t o r y G r a c e R e a g hD i r e c t o r , S a l o n & E l i t e J e w e l r y

Yuki then continued this momentum with another cli-ent and presented VCAs Des Amoureux “Lovers Bridge” AND FOUR “Midnight Dragon” timepieces. All are in-credibly beautiful, and are very limited editions. This timepiece connoisseur was so thankful that Yuki sur-prised him with a set that only he could see in person, and told her he appreciated her detail oriented sincerity and elegant treatment so much – he bought ALL of them.

These two transactions totaled close to a million dollars.

Thank you Yuki – for these out-of–this-world sales and for making sure these international cli-ents prefers the Maison Birks & VCA door to enter!

F a l l / H o l i d a y 2 0 1 5

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LOVE THEM, LOVE THEM.. .S t o r y J e s s e D r a g o , S t o r e M a n a g e r

Bernardo, Gina Espana’s longtime client at Mayors Dadeland Mall, wanted a special birthday gift for his fiancée Alicia. Gina determined that diamond earrings would be the perfect gift, but there weren’t any in stock at the store which quite fit the bill. Even a search of the Mayors inventory came up short. Gina reached out to Mina from JB Star who immediately got on board and sent Gina pictures of beautiful ear-rings. In no time Gina selected 4 pairs to be sent to the store. Mr. Bernardo was enthralled with the pair of Fancy Yellow Radiant Cut Internally Flawless earrings, 2.28 CTW. $35,200 later, he is giving his future wife an unforgettable birthday gift. Alicia contacted Gina to express her gratitude. “I wanted to thank you for your help in picking out my earrings! They are absolutely AMAZING!!!! Love them, love them.”And just as amazing is Gina, who never falters in delivering unparalleled customer service.

JUST BECAUSE .. .S t o r y S h i r l e y G o o d I n g o l d , L e a d e r s h i p , L e a r n i n g & O r g a n i z a t i o n a l D e v e l o p m e n t

We have talked many times in our training pro-grams about the reasons for celebrating a special occasion with a beautiful timepiece or piece of ex-quisite jewelry from Mayors. We know that our clients celebrate birthdays, anniversaries and pro-motions with us. Sometimes we are lucky to share in a client’s celebration when they are simply cele-brating life or their love for someone. This is an ex-ample of how Sammy Miller, one of our very tal-ented sales professionals, was able to help a client celebrate for no other reason than “Just Because.”

This lady’s husband secretly purchased a Rolex for her from Sammy. The husband then sent her into our store under the guise of picking up a re-pair he had left. Sammy brought it out and pre-sented it to her as a “just because” gift from her husband. She was smiling and speechless.

Thank you all for making everyday a special day for our clients!!!

Thank you Sammy!

B E H I N D T H E C A R A T

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A N E V E N I N G O F F U N , F O O D , A N D K N O W L E D G E

TRAINING

Elyse Clarke, Regional Man-ager from Baume & Mercier hosted an outstanding training session followed by dinner on October 20 for the teams from Aventura, Miami Internation-al Mall and Dadeland Mall at Seasons 52 on Miracle Mile in Coral Gables. After treating the group to some outstanding flatbread appetizers and cock-tails, Elyse previewed the new Collections that we can expect to see in our Mayors stores this holiday season. She previewed the Holiday incentive plans and programs. After dinner, all 21 attendees enjoyed some time together planning for the busy holiday season. Thank Elyse!! The partnership between Mayors and Baume & Mercier is one that we continuously enjoy and look forward to celebrating!

S t o r y S h i r l e y G o o d I n g o l d ,L e a d e r s h i p , L e a r n i n g & O r g a n i z a t i o n a l

D e v e l o p m e n t

G O L D M I N E

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HOT HOTEL

Perched on a hill overlooking the Swiss village of Sils-Maria, the Waldhaus is neither fancy nor fashionable. But that’s what makes it perfectly of the moment. A real-life Grand Budapest Hotel that’s been run by the same family since 1908, it’s a retreat for diplomats, artists, and intellectuals. Einstein, Hesse and Jung were regulars. Guests are drawn in by its old world charm and the roster of sophisticated socials (classical music recitals, vintage car rallies, and poetry readings) hosted there. It’s a perfect antidote to the party-hardy scene in nearby St. Moritz. waldhaus-sils.ch/en

D E C O D E L I G H T

T H E G A L L E R I AF O R T L A U D E R D A L E , F L O R I D A

The brand new Mayors store in The Galleria Mall opened on Thursday, August 27th, 2015. We wish all of the team much success.

Team from left to right: Tom Gottily, Sandhya Kapoor, Jo-Ann Frey, Coralie Rodriguez (Cartier rep), Frank Cimilluca, Neenah Dreslin, Tania Cavic, Daniel Hernandez & Margaret Proulx.

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S H E R W A Y G A R D E N SO N T A R I O , C A N A D A

The brand new Maison Birks in Sherway Gardens opened on Tuesday, September 22nd, 2015. We wish much success to all of the team.

Team from left to right: Ash Dhawan, Mary Tomasino, Maya Dzombic, Nimfa Mallari, John McCammon, Phyll Ruy & Aymen Jaffrey. Bottom left: our beautiful Snowflake collection.

D E C O D E L I G H T

We were neither “fast” nor “furious” but we really had a great time racing these small gasoline powered go-karts. Boca Store Director; Mick Howard, Gardens Store Director; Garett Woot-ton; Boca Store Manager, Heidi Bormeester, and Boca Sales Pro-fessional John Suida made up the Mayors Race Team. There were 12 Special Olympics sponsor teams and 4 professional race car drivers. With 16 karts on the track the race was very compet-itive. Each of the 4 team members had to make at least 15 track laps and then pit and quickly change drivers. No one was injured but we all had sore arms or shoulders from all the hairpin turns without power steering. It was all in good fun and raised mon-ey for Special Olympics, a wonderful cause. Next year Nascar!!!

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T E A M B O C A R A C E S T O T H E F I N I S H

S t o r y M i c k H o w a r dP h o t o s H e i d i B o e r m e e s t e r

D A Z Z L I N G T I M E SF a l l / H o l i d a y 2 0 1 5

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There is simply nothing more rewarding then giving back to our local communities. Our new partnership with the Orlando Shake-speare Theatre allowed us, Mayors Florida Mall, to do just that on September 20th, 2015. When one of our past clients (a mem-ber of the Board) approached us to contribute; our answer was a resounding ABSOLUTELY! We could not be more pleased with the receptiveness of Linda Schultes and Frank Cimilluca. Our teams made this contribution happen for the theater in record time!

The event was certainly a “A Royal Affair” with 300 guests enjoy-ing the evening and through their support the theatre surpassed their goal of $50,000. Mayors generously donated our beautiful long Sparkle earrings which was modeled throughout the evening with much fan-fare! The winning bid was $2,500 during the live auction which led to a very happy wife and husband toasting that evening.

Participating in this wonderful Central Florida event was a won-derful experience. It was simply a team effort making this happen for the theatre and our community. Cheers to Birks and Mayors!

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A R O Y A LA F F A I R

S t o r y F l o r i d a M a l l Te a m

D A Z Z L I N G T I M E S F a l l / H o l i d a y 2 0 1 5

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HOT HOTEL

Perched on a hill overlooking the Swiss village of Sils-Maria, the Waldhaus is neither fancy nor fashionable. But that’s what makes it perfectly of the moment. A real-life Grand Budapest Hotel that’s been run by the same family since 1908, it’s a retreat for diplomats, artists, and intellectuals. Einstein, Hesse and Jung were regulars. Guests are drawn in by its old world charm and the roster of sophisticated socials (classical music recitals, vintage car rallies, and poetry readings) hosted there. It’s a perfect antidote to the party-hardy scene in nearby St. Moritz. waldhaus-sils.ch/en

H A L L O W E E N E H ?The Credit team organized a great Halloween get together at the Montreal Corporate Office on Friday, October 30th.

J E W E L R Y B O X

From left to right: Marie-Ève Laroche, Sophie A. Lancry, Hélène Messier, Cheryl Jim, Raquel Diaz, Catherine Elkas, Shirley Good Ingold, Kateryne Cantin & Farzana Agtar Mohamad.

From top left to right: Pui Sum Fong, Harriet Wang, Marco Pasteris, Andres Tirado, Jean-Claude Zakpiombu, YuQing Tang, Jessica Bertot, Sunnia Ali & Michael Chen.

On September 9th, Birks introduced the largest diamond cut from a stone mined in Canada. The North Star, a round brilliant diamond, weighs 15.10 carat, measures 15.87 by 9.77 mm and was cut from a 55.07-carat rough stone extracted from Diavik mine in the Northwest Territories in February. It has a D Colour Grade, SI2 Clarity (Slightly Included) and Excellent Cut Grade, as certified by the GIA. Its Polish and Symmetry are Excellent.

The 15-carat North Star diamond was then mounted by Birks in its Montreal Factory as a ring in platinum setting before it was presen- ted to the public. The media buzz surrounding the diamond was so incredible that it didn’t take much time before an interested custom-er came through our Montreal Flagship store doors to take a look at this beauty. As soon as early October, the diamond was already sold!

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T H E N O R T H S T A R

J E W E L R Y B O X

B E F O R E A F T E R

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W r i t e r M a r i e - È v e L a r o c h e T r a n s l a t o r & E d i t o r

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F a l l / H o l i d a y 2 0 1 5

a u t u m n c h a n g e s

P o e t r y G r e g F l e t c h e r , C l e r k , M o n t r e a l D i s t r i b u t i o n C e n t e r

I stood there on that mountain top

in the cold September air

the sun was brightly shinning

but it was, in its future that I feared

I knew those days were coming

that bitterness and cold

when fingers numb and feet like ice

and of course that runny nose

I swept off a stump of autumn leaves

then filled my thermos cup

as coffee waffed through autumns air

too hot for bottoms up

I looked around as my mind swayed

to the places I had been

from St. Zenon and St Michel des Saints

and all those other little places within

Chutes aux Rats or St Ursules

what lovely waterfalls

where time stood still in my own mind

as I admired the water of it all

I could feel a bit of sadness

as the summer said goodbye

and once more my bones will stiffen

on certain days as winter does its try

lace up those skates, toboggan down

or a brisk walk in the park

just don’t forget that Kleenex

You know those runny noses will start

J E W E L R Y B O X

Photo: Marie-Ève Laroche