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The Encyclopedia of Horology

Montreal, Canada

Henry Birks & Sons

Partially verified

Jewellery, clocks, and watches

History

Henry Birks founded his jewellery business in 1879 on Saint James Street in Montreal after gaining experience as a clerk at the established firm of Savage and Lyman.

In 1893, the founder entered into a partnership with his three sons, William, John, and Gerald, leading to the adoption of the name Henry Birks and Sons. The company relocated its primary store and corporate headquarters to Phillips Square in 1894, a location that has remained significant to the firm's operations.

The extended history summarises the open references listed under Sources; each statement was checked against the cited passage. Confirm key dates in period documents before relying on them.

Current watchmaking & later fate

  • The company maintains a store and corporate offices at the historic Phillips Square location in Montreal.

As stated in the references listed under Sources, retrieved 2026-11-03. Ownership and collections change; check the maker's own announcements for the latest position.

Serial numbers

No serial-number system for this maker is recorded in the cited references.

Collecting significance

The catalogued pieces listed on this page show the kinds of objects auction houses, dealers and museums attribute to this maker; each attribution is the source's own.

In the object catalogue

2 catalogued objects are recorded under Henry Birks & Sons. Attributions are as given by each source and are not independent authentication.

Diagram

escape wheelpallets and leveroscillator
Schematic: escapement arrangement. An outline schematic drawn to show the arrangement of the parts discussed here. It is not a dimensioned working drawing and does not depict a particular maker's calibre.

Sources & references

  1. Henry Birks, Wikipedia (English), retrieved 2026-11-03 (text CC BY-SA 4.0)
  2. Henry Birks & Sons (Montreal) Ltd v Montreal (City of), Wikipedia (English), retrieved 2026-11-03 (text CC BY-SA 4.0)
  3. Henry Birks, Wikipedia (French), retrieved 2026-11-03 (text CC BY-SA 4.0)

Where sources disagree, the disagreement is stated rather than resolved silently.