Made You Look — Attraction in Toronto

Dear The Internet Jil Maddin at Made You Look is the greatest thing to ever happen in the Jewelry industry AND THAT'S HOW YOU START A REVIEW LETS DO THIS!!!

My fiance and I are both of Indian descent and have some gold that has been passed down through our family but not in a 'rich people' way, in a sentimental "small necklaces and bangles, passed down through the family" sort of way.

My goal was to make a meaningful and creative engagement ring by melting our family golds together a la Lord of the Rings. A friend of mine suggested Made You Look on Queen West in Toronto, and it was here that I met Lord Jilian "Sauron" Maddin who was destined to forge my one ring to rule them all.

I've literally never had a more positive experience in ANY of my experiences in any service industry and I am NOT overstating. From the moment we met, Jil listened to every word of my ambitious project and reciprocated with positive and professional feedback. She was patient and CRAZY understanding of my budget which could only be described as "Sit down, be Humble".

In fact Jil and I energized each other! The whole process was a fun back and forth of texts, IG tags, design refs, gem styles and obscure references for palette and sparkle! I'm pretty sure at one point I tagged her in a Lady Gaga award show outfit and she still somehow knew what I meant as a reference (side note: the ring we made is not meat).

Jil's knowledge and passion for her work is completely outstanding. As she explained, the process starts with selecting stones. We both allowed this to take the time that it needed. Jil is well-versed, connected and well-liked in her community. She has access to the whole country... continent? world? 's pickings of stones. She's basically Thanos. She would say to me "D, I'm going to Vermont next week, might come back with a delicious chocolate diamond for us, stay tuned". Umm okay, easy Lil' Wayne. But it was worth it. And forget just having access to stones - we synced up in our quest for the right ones. I simply couldn't pull a trigger on a stone until I could tell that Jil was as excited to make the ring as my fiance would be to receive it.

I feel like this is a good time to sidebar and tell you that if you're the type that just wants to walk in and point at a ring and then buy it - Jil's selection at Made You Look is dope for that too.

Okay but if you ARE a nerd for sentiment, can I tell you about "the stories"? I'm a filmmaker. So I went in with the obscure idea of telling "3 stories" on the ring. No, I'm not pretentious, YOU'RE pretentious. The idea actually came from seeing Jil's previous work at Made You Look. Her unique style allows for 3 'looks' on one ring. You heard me. It's insane and you should stop reading this right now and go to her instagram @maddinjewellery and look at all of them and then never come back to reading this because you get lost scrolling back in her profile forever. No one will judge you.

Jil took my vision and expressed it in ring form. She did 3 champagne diamond baguettes on one side, a brilliant white sapphire in the middle and a chocolate diamond on the other side, book-ended by 2 small colourless diamonds. All embedded elegantly into 2 golds melted together: gold from my mother, and gold from my fiance's mother. She even sourced the best Toronto engraver and etched a design in the band. The design is an exact replica of one of my fiance's grandmother's bangles. I KNOW! Kleenex much?!

So in conclusion, The Internet...

Maybe you're googling or reading reviews because there's a lovely person that you want to spend the rest of your life with. And you want to show them that by giving them a piece of jewelry that they'll wear forever. F-O-R-E-V-E-R. It's literally all of the rest of the time you and this person will have together. So good job reading up on where to get a ring and getting this far in my review. Start forever off on a good note. Go to Made You Look and get Jil Maddin to write the "once upon a time"...

I've been into this shop 3 times. I am graduating from a nurse practitioner program and I was planning on buying myself a ring as a gift. The first time I entered was about 1.5 years ago to just take a look at what was out there and try on a few rings, my budget is $5K. The person who helped me was wonderful.

The second time a few months after that, there was someone who saw I was curious in rings and did not offer to help me. That person actually helped someone who came in after me, then when they left she continued to clean the cases before she asked me if I needed help. It wasn't a horrible interaction after I was already ignored and treated as invisible so I forgot about it.

Fast forward to now. There is a sign on the locked door of the shop that says if you don't have a mask please see the front desk upon entering. I am standing there trying to get in and the same person from my second interaction is there helping someone and does not allow me in, I ring the doorbell and they immediately say "do you have a mask?" I said no, I was completely flustered by her rude tone to me immediately. I didn't even point out the sign. I was then lectured on how I had to bring my own mask and it would be required by retailers soon but there are only a few set aside or something like that and she reluctantly gave me one. I completely understand wearing a mask, but I didn't have my own. I am a nurse and I have to wear a mask 35-50 hours a week, so I don't usually wear one in the open air, but I understand when retailers want me to. It didn't make sense to me she said that because the sign says see the front desk if you don't have one. My issue isn't even the mask thing - its how I was treated.

I only made a purchase on this day because there was a particular piece I wanted as a gift for someone and I've had my eye on it for a while. I really should have walked out and taken my money elsewhere. It was only a small purchase but I would have rather spent it in good spirits. There were a few other pieces that I was intending on purchasing for the same gift but now I'll look elsewhere. I follow many of the jewelers/goldsmiths that sell out of Made You Look and was still intent on making a large purchase as a graduation gift to myself but I really want to avoid a third interaction with this person that made me feel like I was nothing. The person who helped me checkout was nice enough but I was literally still feeling extremely embarrassed by the woman who answered the door. I barely walked 4 feet into the store. Lots of businesses and restaurants in Parkdale definitely have a hipster I'm better than you vibe towards people of colour while pretending to be progressive or strongholds in the community, and this one is...

I came here to fix 2 necklaces and the reviews were positive from yelp. I have to admit that my experience here is mixed. What they did manage to fix was nicely done and perhaps a tad more than I would expect but done well. Im giving them a lower score as they mismanaged their evaluation and ultimately could not fix both necklaces. This all happened after coming in, evaluating it, and giving me a quote. I left it in their hands and to only get a confusing call several days later about requiting it... Suffice to say, if they couldn't fix the 2nd necklace, I wouldn't have given them any to fix because now I have to go off and search for another place and waste more time.

So I needed a set of pearls restrung and a metal necklace links put back together. They said over the phone they couldn't see it could be fixed until I dropped in. I did a few days later and after having them evaluate both quickly and they said both could be fixed.

The restringing of pearls took about a week to be completed and looked quite nice. It was $3/inch to restring so it came up to about $50 with taxes all together. Seeing how they have some sentimental value, I wanted it to be done and I think that was well done.

The necklace that couldn't be fixed... they suggested I just link up the existing broken ends without the missing links which is just silly as it would create an imbalance between the 2 sides of the necklace. And the phone call I was given was utterly confusing as they didnt say once "sorry we cannot fix the necklace but we suggest an alternative...". After many questionings of what they were trying to tell me, it became clear the person would not apologize for being unable to fix it and tell me honestly what was happening.

Anyhow, it is a quaint cute shop... just be cautionary if they say "we can fix it". Don't take it...