Trinkets & Treasures

Bermuda shops are packed with goods you won't find anywhere else!

The Island Shop/Cathi McClure

Looking for that one-of-a-kind memento of your visit to Bermuda? Island shops and boutiques offer all sorts of gifts you won't find back home — everything from handcrafted cedar boxes and locally distilled perfumes to spicy condiments and distinctive spirits.

Variety is a hallmark of Bermuda shopping, says Carole Holding, an artist who sells Bermuda-themed merchandise at her shops in Hamilton, St. George's and The Fairmont Southampton Hotel. Here you'll find a trove of local favourites: rum cakes, jams and marmalades, cedar crafts, fragrances, china mugs and cutting boards decorated with Holding's original artwork, and much more.

"Shopping in Bermuda is a different sort of experience," Holding says. "Here you'll find a much more unique selection than you might at a shopping mall in the States."

Barbara and Ken Finsness are quick to agree. Amongst the wares at their Island Shop stores in Hamilton and St. George's are ceramics designed by Barbara in Bermuda and hand painted in Italy.

"Barbara also buys giftware and jewellery to complement her ceramics and other products," says Ken Finsness.

Carole Holding

Because Bermudians are well educated and travelled, they tend to want sophisticated products, Finsness says. "Here, best does better. Retail has to be an experience, almost a social affair, as it was decades ago. Everything has to be just right in our stores, from the music to the flowers. We're constantly changing our displays so that the people who come into the store are seeing something new all the time."

Go shopping in Bermuda and you'll see that it's about browsing in elegant yet homey stores, not elbowing your way through outlet-store throngs; discovering unique boutiques in out-of-the-way alleys, not driving for miles to reach malls packed with the same boring chain stores.

Here are just some of the gifts you may want to take home to remind you of your unforgettable holiday in Bermuda:

• Artisans fashion Bermuda cedar into a number of useful items. Also popular is Bermuda pottery, which may be decorated with depictions of native landscapes or marine themes.
  
  
• Imported textiles are sturdy and finely tailored. Look for British fabrics, as well as fine Irish and Icelandic woollen goods. Prices often are lower than in the United States. In addition, you must at least try on a pair of Bermuda shorts.
  
  
• You'll find good buys on imported porcelain, crystal and silver. Danish flatware, Wedgwood plates and Villeroy & Boch tableware and ovenware are popular choices.
  
  
• Bring back a taste of Bermuda with island-made goodies such as sweet local honey, sherry pepper condiments, jams and marmalades, and Bermuda rum cakes.
  
  
• Easter lilies, oleanders, jasmine, sweet peas and passionflowers are among the unique scents that characterise Bermuda perfumes. The men on your list will appreciate shaving lotion bearing the scent of Bermuda cedar.
  
  

DID YOU KNOW? Most Bermuda stores are open Monday through Saturday from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. Some stores in hotels open their doors for several hours on Sundays, as do souvenir and gift shops in the Clocktower Mall. Friendly, knowledgeable merchants are on hand to help you with your purchases, and U.S. dollars are as acceptable as the Bermuda dollar, which is on a par with stateside currency.

DID YOU KNOW? A pair of Bermuda shorts makes a great souvenir. From civil servants to CEOs, working islanders revere these famous cut-offs. Well-dressed Bermudians wear them everywhere, even to formal parties. Why not take a pair home with you?

DID YOU KNOW? In Bermuda most shopping advertisements, as well as guidebooks and newspapers, use British, not American, spelling.