Now & Then: Catanach’s Jewellers Posted April 15, 2021
Jeweller takes a closer look at the history of Catanach’s Jewellers with Amanda Catanach, managing director, as it turns 147 this year.
FOUNDED BY George William Catanach
ESTABLISHED 1874
George William Catanach migrated from London, UK to Australia in 1870 aboard the ship Swiftsure, aged 24.
A trained diamond setter, he filled a need for skilled workers to manufacture the many items of jewellery starting to be produced in Melbourne due to the Gold Rush.
As the only diamond setter in the colony, his skills were in demand and he worked for several Melbourne jewellers until 1874, when he opened GW Catanach Manufacturing Jeweller on Elizabeth Street in the CBD.