Bijouterie J. Omer Roy
When it finally closed in 2019, la Bijouterie J. Omer Roy was almost exactly one hundred years old. A Plateau landmark, the store was at 1658 Avenue du Mont-Royal Est from 1921 onwards. Named for its original owner, Josephat Roy, the successful family business was subsequently run by his son André and, latterly, by Omer’s grandson Normand.
The premises featured two highly distinctive exterior signs: A fabulous 3D vertical marquee from 1950, with neon letters in four circular elements, stacked on top of one another. They spell R-O-Y, with the fourth element comprising an analog clock. Perched on top, just above roof level, is a cursive ‘J. Omer’, also in neon. Reconditioned and reinstalled in 1993, this sign is currently protected by a borough-wide intervention intended to prevent the loss of key heritage signs in the neighbourhood. (The MSP acted as a consultant on this vital initiative.)
The second sign was quite different, but no less distinctive: a set of 3D, gold-painted, metal letters positioned over a deep green ceramic tiled façade. Again, ‘J. Omer’ in an eccentric cursive, with an extended, curved line from the final ‘r’ swooping gracefully under and around the surname. ROY itself was rendered in compressed 3D capitals, angled outwards from their bases. (Much smaller capital letters spelled out ‘& FILS LTEE’ and ‘MAITRE HORLOGER BIJOUTIER’.) At the time of writing (May 2022) all that remains of this sign is the green ceramic façade. The first part of this sign, featuring the name of the store, was very kindly donated to the MSP by Monsieur Gabriel Deschambault at the Société d’histoire du Plateau-Mont-Royal in September 2021. We are honoured indeed to have this marvelous peice of Montreal sign history in the collection.