CHRIS KIRK
Crafting a Career Across Continents from Glasgow to Christchurch
Chris Kirk has built a 14-year career in fine jewellery and luxury watches by saying 'yes' to opportunities. Starting in the retail industry at just 15, his journey reflects a passion for craftsmanship, people, and the confidence to follow where life leads.
Crafting a Career Across Continents from Glasgow to Christchurch Chris Kirk has built a 14-year career in fine jewellery and luxury watches by saying 'yes' to opportunities. Starting in the retail industry at just 15, his journey reflects a passion for craftsmanship, people, and the confidence to follow where life leads.
Chris was born and raised in Glasgow, Scotland, and like many young lads, he loved exploring and letting life lead him toward whatever adventure came next. To finance the fluid, open-ended path he imagined for himself, at just 15, Chris stepped into the working world through the retail fashion industry in a part-time role.
He remembers walking past a jewellery store in Glasgow one day and spotting a sign in the window advertising for staff. He dropped in his CV, went through a couple of interviews, and a week later found himself working at Chisholm Hunter, a family-owned jeweller and diamond merchant established in 1857, with stores across Scotland and England. Chris says it was the best decision he ever made, opening the door to a career that has now spanned more than 14 years, dealing in fine jewellery, engagement rings, and luxury watches.
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Three years later, he moved to Edinburgh with Chisholm Hunter, wanting to be closer to his roots in Scotland. It was there he secured his first management role with the company. He also took a two-year hiatus to work for Laings Jewellers, saying the move gave him the opportunity to work with a broader range of luxury watch brands.
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We asked Chris how his move to Christchurch came about, and much like his first step into luxury jewellery, it all started with an advert.
He saw the role in New Zealand and took it as another chance to throw himself into the deep end, thinking, “Why not!” After a series of interviews, he was offered the position. Before leaving, Chris says the owner of Partridge Jewellers, Grant Partridge, came to meet him personally. Grant happened to be in the country on business at the time, and the timing worked well. Chris felt genuinely privileged that Grant took time out of his busy life to do so.
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Chris says he absolutely loves Christchurch and says you can tell how much you love a place by how eagerly you look forward to returning after being away. To him, Christchurch feels very much like Glasgow; full of friendly people and never short of someone to talk to. He says he can head out on his own and end up having half a dozen conversations with different people in an evening.
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He laughs as he tells me about some of his clients, now good friends, who can sit and discuss watches purely by their reference numbers. He once overheard them in a whisky bar saying, “Remember my 16700?” followed by, “Oh yeah, that was a great watch.” And speaking of whisky bars, Chris jokes that he feels like an inferior Scotsman whenever he’s in the presence of Michael from Whisky Galore, saying Michael speaks like someone straight out of Braveheart.
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In many ways, Chris’s life reflects the spirit he’s carried since childhood: a willingness to follow opportunity wherever it leads and the confidence to back himself along the way. From Glasgow to Christchurch, he has built a life shaped by curiosity, connection, and the courage to say yes when it matters most.