Doug Ashbury
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Feb 09/00) - The newest jewelry store in the city will sparkle with Northern diamonds, says owner Hau Huynh.

Huynh and his wife April opened Arctic Jewellers last Thursday in the Centre Square Mall. Arctic Jewellers is located in the spot formerly occupied by Merle Norman, which is moving to another location in the mall.

Prior to opening the store, Huynh, a goldsmith, worked at Eldonn Jewellery for about 18 months.

Huynh, originally from Can Tho near Saigon, trained as a goldsmith in Vietnam and came to Canada in 1989.

He has also worked at jewelry businesses in Edmonton and Vancouver.

"Many of my family are jewellers. A cousin, an aunt and a brother, They are all jewellers," he said. When it comes to opening and running a jewelry business, Huynh said family have been a valuable resource.

Huynh worked at his aunt's jewelry business in Vancouver. He then came to Yk to visit a relative and wound up with a job at Eldonn.

Asked what sets Arctic Jewellers apart from the other jewelry shops is Yellowknife, Huynh said many of the items he's selling are his own designs.

He also carries watch brands not carried by others in the city, he said.

As well as the custom jewelry work, Arctic Jewellers also does repair work.

So far, Huynh has three Ekati diamonds for sale. The stones, each weighing about one-half carat, were cut and polished at Sirius Diamonds' Yk airport facility. Sirius Diamonds adds a tiny polar bear to the side of each diamond it cuts and polishes from Ekati.

Sirius chairman Jim Ben-Oliel said to mark the millennium, diamonds are given a polar bear and the year 2000 engraving.

The company even takes requests. Buyers can have their diamond personalized with a date or other engraving, he said.