New Zealand jewellery pioneer Sir Michael Hill died this morning at age 86. 

He stepped down from his role on the board of Michael Hill Jewellers to undergo cancer treatment in April. 

He founded and grew Michael Hill Jewellers from humble beginnings in Whangārei to become a global retail jewellery brand spanning Australia, New Zealand, and Canada. 

Michael Hill Jewellers chairman Rob Fyfe said Hill was much more than a jeweller. 

“To every endeavour he pursued, Michael brought a deep sense of purpose, an enduring curiosity, open-mindedness and creativity that challenged all of us to embrace ever more lofty goals and be unconstrained in our thinking – a legacy that will continue to inspire us." 

But until he was 40, Hill was far from the jewellery juggernaut we know him as today. He told Newstalk ZB in 2020 he was a self-described ‘Mr Cautious’. After struggling at school, and failing in his attempt to become a concert violinist, he started working for his uncle’s jewellery business in his teens. 

For the next 23 years, he was living an average sort of life in Whangarei with his wife Christine and two children. That’s until he got a call one night telling him that, despite the rainy night, his house was on fire. He arrived home to see his brand new home engulfed in flames.  

He rushed in to rescue his prized violin, and wife Christine’s jewellery. Then, they stood outside and watched as the rain turned to drizzle, and the heat of the fire lifted the heavy cloud from around the house. 

"At the same time, it seemed to have the same effect on me. Suddenly, something snapped, and I realised I’ve been working for my uncle for 23 years, with no clear direction. And that night, I took a visiting card and wrote down quickly 'I’m going to own my uncle’s business, and if he won’t sell, I’m going to start my own business'. So I set a goal that I genuinely, genuinely wanted to achieve.”  

Michael’s daughter Emma was just a child at the time. She says from that moment, Michael Hill jeweller was born. “When you’ve got nothing, suddenly there are no barriers, anything is possible”.