Hart Jewellers closing the doors after a century of trading in Hamilton’s CBD

Closing the doors on a jewellery store that has been operating on Ward Street for over 100 years will not only mark the end of an era for Clive and Linley Hart, but also for Hamilton’s CBD.

Trading as a jewellery store on Ward Street since 1919, the business has changed hands just four times in a century, with Clive and Linley opening the store as Hart Jewellers in 2003.  Manufacturing jeweller Clive Hart has had 53 years in the trade but says it’s time to call it a day. Clive and his wife Linley are looking ahead to retirement. “I’ve had a long and varied career that has been very satisfying,” he says. 

Clive creates handmade jewellery, using techniques he learnt as an apprentice. He credits his skills to the time he spent with English jeweller Eric Baldwin who learnt his trade in Hatten Gardens, London. All of Clive’s jewellery is handmade and when he needs to cast a unique piece, he will carve it using a wax mold.

Attention to detail and quality is paramount and nothing leaves Clive’s workshop without being checked with a magnifying glass. Even repairs are treated with the same attention to detail. Despite mainstream jewellers dominating the market and the malls in recent years, Clive and Linley have stuck with their original values as manufacturing jewellers.  “We’ve stayed true to tradition and never compromised on the quality,” Linley says.

Most of their business involves the customer designing their own bespoke jewellery. Linley helps the clients create the design and Clive brings their vision to life. Customers trust Linley. She has experience on her side. She has worked in a jewellery store since she was a teenager, starting out as a sales assistant in Plaza Jewellers, in the Pollock and Milne Plaza.  Following this, Linley worked for Barkers Jewellers where she met Clive. 

The Barkers family sold the jewellery store to the Hart family after they had been in business 28 years. Clive had been employed by the Barkers as their manufacturing jeweller. Their partnership approach to business has been successful for the Harts, with Linley providing the in-store customer service and Clive manufacturing all the jewellery in his workshop.  It is a family business and Clive and Linley’s daughter Shannon Bryant has been working the shop floor for a number of years now, along with daughter in law, Kerrie-Anne Liddall.

Customer preferences have changed over the years, but the Hart’s have a loyal clientele who they will dearly miss when the shop closes. Not only do they have many faithful customers, but the Hart’s have also been dedicated to their original suppliers over the years.

“We have a very loyal relationship with just a few suppliers that we trust, and we have used them for all of the time that we’ve owned the business,” Linley says.  The business is built on loyalty. The same suppliers were in place when the Barkers owned the jewellery store. Being in business in Hamilton’s CBD for so long has meant the Hart’s have seen a lot of change. “Back in the day we sold clocks and silver trays, masses of crystal, silver goblets, hairbrush, and comb sets – all the gorgeous things. They’re long gone now,” Linley says.

Online shopping has also changed the retail scene and there simply isn’t the foot traffic in Hamilton’s CBD that there once was. Linley recalls a time when Ward Street was packed with people and Victoria Street was humming with the bustle of retail stores. That was a time when people came to town for a day out. “Now we are a destination store.” 

Clients have changed too, and nowadays women often buy their own jewellery and not always for a special occasion. But some traditions have remained. “We have the most old-fashioned, traditional things that have been made for a hundred years, and will still be made going forward,” says Linley. Like the traditional London Bridge ring setting with three stones and a couple of little diamonds in between each setting. Linley reckons there will always be a market for these designs.

There’s no doubting the heart in Hart Jewellers. The Hart family have seen dozens of customers getting all teary, buying that special piece for a special person. Many Hamiltonians will remember their long-standing radio advertisements, proudly stating Hart Jewellers are still ordering tissues by the truckload. Notably, there still stands a box of tissues on the counter, ready for the next customer who steps in the door. And the Hart family might need a tissue or two when they call time on their business too.

The Harts will continue doing what they do best until March next year.  Clive will carry on creating beautiful bespoke jewellery until he retires, perhaps swapping pliers for a pair of secateurs to help in the garden when the time comes. And Linley, along with daughter Shannon and daughter-in-law Kerry-Anne will continue to serve their loyal customers until they close their doors on jewellery for the last time.