I was on my regular magpie mission of hunting down cool and unique jewellery and remembered often having noticed Ace Jewellery, but never having ventured up there. It's pretty inconspicuous, with the entry obscured by Clinton Cards on the left and WH Smiths on the right.
Still, having remembered it existed I decided to go up. Oh, lord. FOUR flights of narrow steep stairs. You keep thinking that you've made it, only to have to do a 180 and carry on going. There are amusing anecdotes relating to the epic journey as you ascend, and they even have jokes about providing oxygen about half way up! (Or at least they did when I last hiked up.)
And, then I made it. And I was totally disappointed. I realise, these things are clearly personal taste, but there was just nothing special enough to reward you for your exertions once you had reached the top. I felt like I had succeeded Everest (or maybe at least Ben Nevis) and all that was on offer was some reasonably plain, albeit reasonably priced, sterling silver and gold items.
As I said, it really comes down to taste. I love vintage, quirky, special one offs and I found none of the above. But each to their own, if you are perhaps a little less adventurous, then I'd say Ace is for you. And certainly better than the more expensive and more standard jewellers about town. read more