McGowans Jewellers was established in 1895, and over the years we have built up a solid reputation as one of Scotland’s leading and highly reputable quality jewellers. We became a household name, known as ‘McGowans – the engaging people’ as customers travelled from all over the country to shop with us. Throughout the years, responsibility for the company slowly passed through the generations, and in 1984, Michael McCann, the third-generation director, opened our sister shop, Michael James Jewellers, in one of our current premises in the Argyll Arcade. 

The Michael James name became a well-known and trusted jeweller in the iconic Argyll Arcade, sitting closely to our McGowans store. Michael McCann retired in 2010, and we have since then upheld the name under the McGowans brand. 

We have now come to the decision that after many years, we are going to consolidate the Michael James name to fall under the name of McGowans. We feel this is a positive step to enhance the McGowans name as a trusted and well established Scottish jeweller. It will help to optimise the brand whilst underpinning our core values of trust, quality and exceptional service. Identifying under the sole name of ‘McGowans’ across all 3 stores will allow us to build upon our long-established heritage as a reputable 4th generation family owned jeweller. 

Our previous Michael James store at 4 Argyll Arcade in Glasgow has recently been re-branded to a McGowans store, but customers can continue to expect only the highest quality jewellery with excellent levels of service as standard. We are confident that this change will enhance the customer experience and optimise our brand for future growth. 

We hope you’ll join us in wishing the Michael James name farewell, and here’s to many more years of success with McGowans! 

You can visit our stores at 4 Argyll Arcade Glasgow, 41 Argyll Arcade Glasgow and 88 Union street in Aberdeen. We hope to see you in store soon.