Windsor shop jumps on permanent jewelry as trend takes off

A downtown Windsor shop is offering a unique trend to the city.

The Whiskeyjack Boutique is offering up permanent jewelry, which gives people the option of having a piece of gold chain welded closed, usually as a bracelet or anklet made out of 14-karat gold or sterling silver. It costs anywhere from $55 to $150 depending on the chain they choose.

The recent popularity of permanent jewelry bloomed even further when showcased on an episode of the Netflix reality series Love is Blind when a couple on the show got gold bracelets welded to them before their marriage.

"It's a nice bracelet, it's gold and you don't have to take it off anyway. You can wear it in the shower, you can wear it at all times," said Allison Mistakidis, owner of the shop.

Mistakidis said she'd been considering buying the welding device for a while but just recently decided to take the plunge.

"It creates a circuit and then a small burst of energy fuses the metal together."

She said it's been generating a lot of interest.

"It's been popular on TikTok and various media outlets but I bought it a few months ago and have finally been getting the push to get it up and running here,"

Kaila Segin and her best friend Chelsea Drouillard had been considering getting the bracelets done together for a while. They heard about it through friends and social media. They had even considered travelling to Toronto for it.

"We heard that they were doing them in Windsor, so, perfect timing, " Segin said.

The pair have been friends for 15 years and met playing volleyball. The day they got their permanent bracelets they just happened to show up wearing extremely similar outfits. They decided to get it done as a fun way to bond.

"It's a cool experience to do with your friends," Segin said.

"When you're kids, you always do friendship bracelets but it's like the permanent adult version of it," Drouillard added.

Videojournalist

Jacob Barker is a videojournalist for CBC Windsor.