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Celtic Fair Jewelry celebrates 20th anniversary

December 21, 2023   ·   0 Comments

By Sam Odrowski 

A local business is celebrating its 20th anniversary.

Celtic Fair Jewelry, owned and operated by Constance Scrafield, was founded in 2003. The jewelry business has evolved over the years but it continues to offer the simple promise of high-quality pieces at affordable prices.

“It feels so lovely to wear,” said Scrafield. “People always comment, ‘where did you get that or that’s a beautiful piece.’ And every time you wear it, it’s a better day than it would have been without it.”

While Celtic Fair Jewelry participates in shows and expos like the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair in Toronto, it can be viewed locally at Harmony Whole Foods, where it’s been on display since its inception.

Scrafield told the Citizen her friend David Warburton was having a Celtic Festival in 2003 and asked if she’d like to display her Celtic jewelry there.

Jennifer Grant, who formerly owned Harmony Whole Foods was in attendance, liked what she saw, and told Scrafield, “Your jewelry would do really well at my shop.”

“The store has been selling Celtic Fair sterling silver jewelry ever since,” said Scrafield. “It’s just been a great relationship for 20 years.”

Harmony’s high standards for its food, supplements, and all of its products, speaks to the quality of Celtic Fair Jewelry.

The chains at Celtic Fair Jewelry are sterling silver from Italy, as they have the highest quality chains, according to Scrafield. 

Celtic Fair Jewelry is available at six different shops, from Cobourg to Georgetown to Burlington. 

When the business was starting, Scrafield and her late husband Colin would close their eyes and point to a random place on the map to go to with the jewelry.

“I would take the collections to that village, whatever it was, and we’d drive up and down the streets. When we saw a shop that looked suitable, I’d go in and offer to sell them this Celtic jewelry [for resale] and I had a 90 per cent success rate in the very early days,” Scrafield recalled.

The COVID-19 pandemic slowed down Celtic Fair Jewelry’s sales, preventing the business from doing shows, but it shifted to selling online. The business has continued with online sales, but Scrafield said she really enjoys meeting customers and talking with them in-person about the pieces they’re buying.

“We joke and we tell lots of stories – a long list of stories – but every time we do, the people are entertained and people are enlightened. They find out something they didn’t know,” said Scrafield. “People come in, they can be a bit cloudy, but when they walk away, they’re happy, and for me, that’s a big part of why it’s fun to run this business. Every time I sell a piece of jewelry, I get to make somebody feel better than they did 10 minutes ago.”

She noted that most of the Western world has Celtic roots, and she enjoys speaking with customers about that history.

“Even people that don’t [have the roots], still love the beauty of the designs and the aesthetic,” Scrafield noted.

Looking back at Celtic Fair’s roots, it was Scrafield’s cousin, Vit Hermes, who got her into the business. Familiar with jewelry design, Hermes ran a jewelry business in Birmingham, England. Celtic Fair Jewelry started out by bringing his pieces to Canada and selling them locally.

The pieces still had to be assembled and at the time, Colin would put them together. Colin taught his and Scrafield’s daughter Patricia how to do the assembly before he passed in 2015 and she’s continued with it to this day.

Truly a family business.

Patricia has since built upon and improved the Celtic Fair’s assembly techniques, leading to positive feedback from satisfied customers.

“Since 2015, she’s been studying, researching, watching YouTube workshops,” said Scrafield. “She’s had some of her own ideas on how to do things to make them perfect. She’s been told by a geologist, who visited the Royal this year, that she’s one of the best in her field.”

In addition to assembling, Colin’s involvement in the business also entailed creating displays to hang jewellery, and his contributions to the business have extended beyond his death, said Scrafield.

To view the Celtic Fair’s Jewelry’s collections or learn more, visit www.celticfairjewelry.com. 

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