I took my Birks natural pearls to be restrung and a gold and jade ring to be fixed at Sherway. First I was told they did not come from Birks and therefore their repair shop would likely reject them. They did come from Birks and I have the paper work to prove it. A further insult, "These pearls don't feel real." Then I was quoted a minimum $1150. for the repairs, if the repair shop would take them. I have taken my pieces to Edwards and Davies where the jeweller remarked on the beauty and value of natural versus cultured pearls. My repairs there will be less than a third of Birk's quote. And they do beautiful work. read more

I purchased what was supposed to be a Tissot watch from Birks. It was junk. Within one year the leather band split, the glued-on numbers to the dial fell off, and the movement ultimately failed. I am embarrassed for the Birks of yesteryear. The company obviously sells cheap knock-offs with the Tissot name licenced to the pieces, and a $30 Timex is a better value. So sad, as I used to love Birks and the reputation behind it. Never will I purchase a thing from them again. read more

Mr. Ibrahim Mouwad went out of his way to assist me. I can't thank him enough for his expertise about Cartier and Baume and Mercier watches. He is a fountain of knowledge, a very kind and courtly gentleman. I cannot praise , or thank him enough. Susan M. read more

AVOID. This long established Canadian jeweller is the same in name only. But, apparently not, as it's now called Maison Birks. What a terribly and profoundly changed establishment. It is truly awful. The store feels clinical, and the gemologist I met with seemed not to have any personality or warmth. I am getting married, and I was there to inquire about a diamond engagement ring. What a smarmy, insincere person, a shocking money grab and unspecified, but estimated very long waiting time for any work to be carried out. I went to a highly recommended very small private jeweller where the customized work was done in two weeks, not suggested 2.5 months, and I paid only 20% of the quotation from Birks!!! Twenty percent! read more

Very disappointed in service, my wife lost her anniversary ring that was purchased in 1992 from Birks in Chinook Centre in Calgary. We need a recent appraisal so we took the original appraisal from 1992 and the purchase receipt into the store on April 9th and it was sent in and we are STILL waiting for the information. On May the 4th they said it would be that week or at the latest the next week and now that week has come and gone and still no appraisal. The insurance company needs a recent appraisal to determine the value so we still wait. We do not recommend Birks for their service, very unhappy with the service or the lack of service. Gord Evans read more

Let me preface this by saying, this was the first time I stepped into Birks, and this is more a commentary on my experience than a review on the store. Somehow I was able to drag my boyfriend in to Birks the other day, to make him look at engagement rings. It's something we've talked about but never really looked. We came in for fun, and for him to do a little unspoken research. We tried to make a game out of this new situation, which was a little awkward to begin with, 'Let's try and find the rings of our friends who got engaged'. The sales lady asked if we needed help. I said we were just looking. She asked us "when are you planning on getting engaged?" I was little annoyed with this as a) it's supposed to be a surprise, or at least some people would like it to be b) you're making it even more awkward! I said, this was up to him and we're just looking. I made a comment about a girlfriend had a certain style ring, and she pulled it out for us. (i didn't ask her to). She asked if I want to try it on. When I told her that "no thanks, I'm not ready, this is the first time we're looking at this", she was set aback and seemed a little offended. "So you're not going to buy a ring today?" and backs away slowly in disdain. I'm sorry but this is a little rude. What would have been nice, is if she can then educate us (or him) about what to look for in a ring, the 4Cs and specifically things about the Birks ring. Who knows, we might come back here to buy it when we are ready, but we're definitely turned off now. I've been to Tiffanys and once with my mom many years ago, we weren't even looking at rings, but I wanted to know more the sales lady gave me a book and a Engagement ring 101 lesson! read more

Do yourself a favor and go elsewhere for custom work. The fellow who handles custom orders, Ron, seems to be a contractor, not an employee, and he is a disaster. After waiting double the estimated number of weeks for a quote (and then later waiting double the estimated number of weeks for the work to be completed), I had to call for status updates. When he eventually called me back, he seemed irritated with me and acted like it was puzzling that I should want/need an update. He is not cut out for customer service. Furthermore, quotes seemed heavily padded, promised services were later reneged, work came back less than perfect, and overall I really wish I had gone elsewhere. I expect much better service from Birks. I hope they replace Ron soon, or let the regular employees handle this type of work instead of contracting it out to Ron. Unfortunately, he is the person who handles custom orders for several Toronto Birks locations, so until he goes away, I will be having my custom work done elsewhere. :-( read more

I came in to get a new battery for my watch. Was greeted warmly upon entering the store. Got great service and was ready in 15 minutes. I inquired about getting a longer strap for it and was told by the desk guy he would inquire from the Montreal office and get back to me on it. To my surprise a week later i got a call telling me my strap was in and could pick it up anytime. To me that's the old fashion service Birks was all about and i can see they still have it. read more

I got engaged last July, and my fiance proposed with a Birks engagement ring. Very beautiful ring. The ring was too big so we went to re-size it. They measured my finger, said they can't do quarter size, just half sizes. Anyway after getting the ring back, it was still too big. it turns around my finger, the diamond always turns inside my palm. So i do not wear my ring because i am scared to loose it and it is uncomfortable when the diamond is on the inside of your palm. I came back to them again, asking to do something/anything about it. I said i know other jewelers can put some rubber on the ring at the back, to prevent it form turning, or some put a little metal drop on the inside of the ring to also prevent it form turning or falling off. Birks said they don't do that. So DO NOT get Birks engagement ring. Because your partner might not be able to ear it, just like me. Now we are shopping for wedding bands, and my fiance thought of going to Birks. I'm going to make sure we don't! read more

I needed to resize a gold ring I bought at an antique shop. Birks came back with a repair estimate that was 2x what I paid for the ring and 10x what I ended up paying for the resize somewhere else. It then took two weeks of phone tag to get my ring back from them. I left messages, which Birks did not return. When I came by, they told me I needed to leave more messages because the ring was still at their workshop, and they'd call me. They didn't call me. Once I got the ring back, I took it somewhere else and got it repaired for a tenth of what Birks quoted. That's right -- Birks has 1000% markup. read more

What a mess with the construction going on, and such a dated store. The new location is supposed to have a much better atmosphere that is more modern. read more

Went to Birks Jewellers at Mapleview Mall in Burlington. I wanted to have my engagement ring claws redone as one diamond was loose. I also wanted a diamond chip replaced in the anniversary band. I received a grossly inflated quote for both jobs. Returning to St. Catharines I had the job done by a local renowned jewellery store at 20% of the price Birks quoted! Yes 1/5 of the cost. I beautiful job was done and the ring looks amazing. My advice - Birks was once a respectable and trustworthy iconic Canadian jeweller. Not any more. Avoid at all costs. read more

I recently purchased a milestone gift for my daughter & had a highly positive experience with Rosa from Birks Bloor street location.  Rosa was very helpful each step of the way in helping to make the right decision - there was never a feeling of being "sold" anything, but rather in taking time & providing genuine education about the various options & price points. This didn't feel like a transaction but rather an outstanding customer experience from beginning to end. I don't generally post reviews but this experience warranted it. read more

I purchased a necklace from Birks online store. Easy to complete, and my purchase arrived promptly. Unfortunately this 36 inch necklace had not been attached in the box, and was bunched up in one corner of the box like a ball of entangled string. There were holes where some type of wiring should have been present to hold the necklace in place. There were not there. Someone had just dumped the necklace in a box. This is a gift. Can you imagine the negative impact if I hadn't opened the box to verify the merchandise? This is not Birk's best day. read more

It is sad to see this once elegant and market-dominant business in decline. My experience(s) with staff including the repair department was, once upon a long time ago, effortlessly smooth and rewarding . Today, even telephone queries are mismanaged. Birks fails to provide the high levels of service, professional etiquette and discretion that it once did. I have stopped patronizing this shop to avoid further disappointment. read more

Wife bought a watch (cost over $1.000) which came with lifetime battery replacement. Today, she phoned the Bloor Street store to confirm that she could get the dead watch battery replaced. The store informed her that the watch had to be sent to Montreal for battery replacement and it would take around 10 days to get it back. How pathetic is this situation? A large long-established high-end jewellery store cannot afford to have battery replacement service is Metropolitan Toronto. She swore no more Birks Jewellery for her. read more

I had a custom ring made from a pair of diamond studs I gave my mother when I was a teen and a huge diamond I had left over from a relationship that was no more. I was very impressed with the process, they made it easy for me and it looks amazing and now the ring is being worn by the most special person in the world! :) xoxo read more

OK, was just in Birks today. I haven't stepped foot in a Birks in years. But I always respected the Canadian element of Birks. I remember it as a kid, my mom shopping in there, etc. Fond memories. Until today however. And I will never go back. I walked in there to inquire about a bracelet I needed fixing. This is what I was met with: a very tall male sales clerk whom, as I walked in the door and was about to say hi to him, smugly looked at me, then walked away. There was no one else in the store, just him and 2 other sales clerks who also looked up at me, then looked away. But the tall one in particular blew me away. He actually looked at me with attitude written all over his face, and walked away in this slow nonchalant manner. No hello, no can I help you. Nothing. Unbelievable. This is the flagship store. And they have him working there? The 2 women downstairs in the jewelry repair were not much better. One was OK, but in a forced friendliness sort of way that didn't feel sincere at all .... But the other one, same smug look. No hello from either of them. I stood there while they discussed something, neither of them even acknowledging my existence. Well done Birks. Way to go. What a way to treat your customers! read more

Excellent service. We recently went shopping for engagement rings and found the women at Birks very warm and helpful. We had gone to 3 jewellery stores and found Birks to be helpful and not pushy. I went back another time on my own to try rings again and found the same women to be very helpful. We bought our ring a Birks and will go back for our wedding bands. I was also so pleased they have Canadian diamonds, I feel good about wearing my ring! read more

I used to spend a lot of money at Birks and get those special "wine and dine" invitations, but no more. They lost the Omega watch franchise--and they had a huge sale to clear out their Omega inventory, but I did not get notified. I also had a good friend in the manager of Birks at Fairview Mall, but Birks replaced her with a younger manager after she had worked for them over 20 years. If Birks doesn't think you are rolling in money, their service shows. I have a number of watches that cost over $5,000 each, but I would never go to Birk's for a high-end watch now. Read their reviews in the watch forums and you will see why. They also never discount any watches, not even a nickel. Other reviewers are right about jewelry repair and design--they will charge you an arm and a leg. The moral of this review is that you can get higher-end items cheaper at other jewelry and watch stores, and that Birks does not reward customer loyalty in any way. And I have no use for companies that push older people out the door--we all get older. Loyalty has to be a two-way street: you cannot expect employees to be loyal to you if you are not loyal in return. Same thing goes for customers--if they are going to charge you top dollar after you have spent $$$ with them, then they obviously do not appreciate your business! read more