July 29, 2025 • 7 mins
Pioneering jewellery retailer Sir Michael Hill has died this morning, aged 86, after a cancer battle.
He built a global brand with branches in New Zealand, Australia and Canada - after humble beginnings in Whangarei.
Broadcaster Bill Kerton joined the Afternoons team to pay tribute.
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Speaker 1 (00:09):
You're listening to a podcast from news Talk zed B.
Follow this and our wide range of podcasts now on iHeartRadio,
and you've.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
Probably heard that jewelry pioneereer Sir Michael Hill has died.
The eighty six year old founded and grew Michael Hill
Jewelers from humble beginnings and fun ad to become a
global retail jewelry brand spanning brand spanning Australia and New
Zealand and Canada. He stepped back from the business in
April to undergo cancer treatment. So, yeah, passed away at
(00:39):
eighty six. And as I was saying before, he's one
of those people that has just been omnipresent in New
Zealand life for a very long time. And his story
is very very famous from being at forty years old
and coming up with a completely different way of doing
jewelry that hadn't been done anywhere in the world and
just exploded and an example of how you can change
things at the age of forty.
Speaker 3 (00:59):
Absolutely inspirational.
Speaker 2 (01:01):
Yeah, absolutely, and of course a huge supporter.
Speaker 4 (01:04):
Of the arts. And you know, here we go, this
is what you think of.
Speaker 5 (01:10):
Hello Michael Hill Jeweler. Don't as my great annual sale.
These diamond eternity rings great buying at three hundred and
six dollars, are now just ninety nine dollars. Silver bracelet
with four charms, we're sixty five dollars now twenty nine.
Be there, Michael Hill Jeweler.
Speaker 4 (01:23):
That's so iconic. It's a really good deal.
Speaker 2 (01:25):
By the way, I'm going to say, yeah, well that's
from nineteen ninety, so I'm sure if it don't go
into Michael Hill Drawler.
Speaker 4 (01:30):
And ask for that deal. It's thirty five years old.
Speaker 2 (01:35):
But my good friend Bill is on the line here
and he's he's he's had some dealings with Michael Hill
back in the day.
Speaker 4 (01:44):
Welcome to the show, Bill.
Speaker 6 (01:45):
Curtin, did I, Matt did I? Tyler? How you going?
That's a certain news.
Speaker 2 (01:50):
Yeah, yeah, it's sort of one of those things that's
just been in the background of New Zealand for the
longest time.
Speaker 4 (01:56):
Just Michael Hill Jewelery is iconic.
Speaker 7 (01:58):
You have to yeah, you have to remember that back
in the eighties when he started his business, New Zealand
had finally you know, sort of anyone older than fifty
will know that New Zealand has finally emerged from a
centrally planned, you know, Soviet style.
Speaker 6 (02:16):
Economy under.
Speaker 7 (02:19):
Under Rob Muldoon, and so businessmen like him, business businessmen
and women like him, they sort of all came popping
out of the bottle like corks, you know, they were
suddenly able to do things like that. And he was
one of them, and you know.
Speaker 6 (02:34):
Made quite a fortunate as a result.
Speaker 7 (02:37):
But I had just started my career in broadcasting in
nineteen eighty four at the age of seventeen, up in
Fang at a radio station called kble CFM, And because
Michael had his primary residence up there, he would come
into our new studios and quite often record commercials there
(03:00):
because you know, that made sense. He was sort of
not too far away and he could he could do
them there and we would duplicate them and send them
off to other radio stations around the country. So he
was very nice, and I met him a few times
when he came in.
Speaker 6 (03:15):
But I have to admit something that you know, that
I did.
Speaker 7 (03:22):
He without without necessarily running it past anyone. I was,
you know, because I was I was a junior copyright.
I felt that his yeah, I felt.
Speaker 6 (03:34):
That his voice was just a little bit squeaky.
Speaker 7 (03:37):
And and so What I did was is I got
the pitch shift on the two track recorder, the analog
two track recorder, and I turned it up slightly so
that when you played it back a real speed, it
sounded a bit slower and therefore a bit deeper. And
that went on for a little while until.
Speaker 6 (04:01):
Until it didn't. I don't know whether he knew about that,
but yeah.
Speaker 1 (04:07):
What was it?
Speaker 6 (04:08):
So was it?
Speaker 4 (04:09):
So this is where it ended up. His voice here
be there, Michael Hill Jeweler.
Speaker 7 (04:14):
Yeah, you can hear it, you can hear it, but
our commercials were not quite there, you know, they were
just sort of shifted down slowly.
Speaker 2 (04:24):
It's so iconic and for him to be a businessman,
and it's sort of a confidence thing, as you say,
like as the as the nation sort of became more
confident into the eighties and business people came through.
Speaker 4 (04:36):
But to be the face of Michael Hill Jewelers. Was
was that odd at the time, because.
Speaker 6 (04:42):
It just well, yeah, man.
Speaker 7 (04:44):
That was the other thing is that in those days,
you would you were positively discouraged not to read your
own ads.
Speaker 6 (04:52):
That was quite you know, that was quite quite radical
to do that. You just you didn't you didn't do it, but.
Speaker 7 (05:00):
He did and then and then you know, time went
on and today you have Adrian and John from Magnuspenner
and everyone does their own ads. But it was it
was a bit of a departure in those days, that's
for sure.
Speaker 4 (05:10):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (05:10):
What was he like when he came into the studio built?
Did he have that confidence? Clearly he backed himself as
a bit of a hustler as well. Was that the
vibe you got that this was a guy who backs
himself wholeheartedly. He's going to sell the crap out of
out of his jewelry business, and that's arguably what got
him ahead.
Speaker 7 (05:27):
Oh no, I never noticed that. He was just very
He was just very friendly, very kind and knew what
he wanted. And you know he was pretty much in
and out like a robber's dog and very busy, busy guy.
Speaker 6 (05:38):
But no, he was nice. I liked them.
Speaker 2 (05:40):
Well, it's an incredible story to you know, be forty
years old, as I was saying, before, change the way
jewelry shops are run up there and fang it ay
then just explode to yachts and golf courses and giving
that much to the arts. I mean, it was an
unlikely arc you've got to.
Speaker 6 (05:57):
Say absolutely, you know. But like I said, here's one
of many.
Speaker 7 (06:01):
People who found the new environment in the mid eighties,
that whole revolution where New Zealand completely changed with in space.
Speaker 6 (06:11):
I mean, I remember fung it at that time.
Speaker 7 (06:13):
I mean I do know if school, but just there
was just development happening everywhere, you know, like there was,
and it was repeated all around New Zealand where suddenly
people could you know, borrow but the regulations were removed.
Speaker 6 (06:29):
I mean, yeah, New Zealand was.
Speaker 7 (06:31):
A very very different place before the Roger Douglas David
Longy government, that's for sure. So these guys, these guys
just they had the keys to the kingdom and off
they went.
Speaker 6 (06:42):
It was all not just not to the same extent.
Speaker 7 (06:45):
But in Soviet Russia when they got rid of communism,
no one.
Speaker 6 (06:50):
Really knew what to do, and maybe not quite as extreme.
Speaker 7 (06:55):
But in New Zealand, the people that did ever bit
of get up and go, they just went for it
and did all sorts.
Speaker 6 (07:01):
Of cool things.
Speaker 2 (07:02):
Yeah, it was all Porschas being abandoned on the Harbor
Bridge and then huge stock market crash in eighty seven
and then since then we'll pull our head back in
and just invested in property.
Speaker 4 (07:13):
Going back to the previous hour, Hey, thank you, thank
you so much. Bill.
Speaker 6 (07:17):
Good to chat to you, good to catch up. MT
to see It for more from News Talks, ed B.
Speaker 1 (07:22):
Listen live on air or online, and keep our shows
with you wherever you go with our podcasts on iHeartRadio
You're listening to a podcast from news Talk zed B.
Follow this and our wide range of podcasts now on iHeartRadio,
and you've.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
Probably heard that jewelry pioneereer Sir Michael Hill has died.
The eighty six year old founded and grew Michael Hill
Jewelers from humble beginnings and fun ad to become a
global retail jewelry brand spanning brand spanning Australia and New
Zealand and Canada. He stepped back from the business in
April to undergo cancer treatment. So, yeah, passed away at
(00:39):
eighty six. And as I was saying before, he's one
of those people that has just been omnipresent in New
Zealand life for a very long time. And his story
is very very famous from being at forty years old
and coming up with a completely different way of doing
jewelry that hadn't been done anywhere in the world and
just exploded and an example of how you can change
things at the age of forty.
Speaker 3 (00:59):
Absolutely inspirational.
Speaker 2 (01:01):
Yeah, absolutely, and of course a huge supporter.
Speaker 4 (01:04):
Of the arts. And you know, here we go, this
is what you think of.
Speaker 5 (01:10):
Hello Michael Hill Jeweler. Don't as my great annual sale.
These diamond eternity rings great buying at three hundred and
six dollars, are now just ninety nine dollars. Silver bracelet
with four charms, we're sixty five dollars now twenty nine.
Be there, Michael Hill Jeweler.
Speaker 4 (01:23):
That's so iconic. It's a really good deal.
Speaker 2 (01:25):
By the way, I'm going to say, yeah, well that's
from nineteen ninety, so I'm sure if it don't go
into Michael Hill Drawler.
Speaker 4 (01:30):
And ask for that deal. It's thirty five years old.
Speaker 2 (01:35):
But my good friend Bill is on the line here
and he's he's he's had some dealings with Michael Hill
back in the day.
Speaker 4 (01:44):
Welcome to the show, Bill.
Speaker 6 (01:45):
Curtin, did I, Matt did I? Tyler? How you going?
That's a certain news.
Speaker 2 (01:50):
Yeah, yeah, it's sort of one of those things that's
just been in the background of New Zealand for the
longest time.
Speaker 4 (01:56):
Just Michael Hill Jewelery is iconic.
Speaker 7 (01:58):
You have to yeah, you have to remember that back
in the eighties when he started his business, New Zealand
had finally you know, sort of anyone older than fifty
will know that New Zealand has finally emerged from a
centrally planned, you know, Soviet style.
Speaker 6 (02:16):
Economy under.
Speaker 7 (02:19):
Under Rob Muldoon, and so businessmen like him, business businessmen
and women like him, they sort of all came popping
out of the bottle like corks, you know, they were
suddenly able to do things like that. And he was
one of them, and you know.
Speaker 6 (02:34):
Made quite a fortunate as a result.
Speaker 7 (02:37):
But I had just started my career in broadcasting in
nineteen eighty four at the age of seventeen, up in
Fang at a radio station called kble CFM, And because
Michael had his primary residence up there, he would come
into our new studios and quite often record commercials there
(03:00):
because you know, that made sense. He was sort of
not too far away and he could he could do
them there and we would duplicate them and send them
off to other radio stations around the country. So he
was very nice, and I met him a few times
when he came in.
Speaker 6 (03:15):
But I have to admit something that you know, that
I did.
Speaker 7 (03:22):
He without without necessarily running it past anyone. I was,
you know, because I was I was a junior copyright.
I felt that his yeah, I felt.
Speaker 6 (03:34):
That his voice was just a little bit squeaky.
Speaker 7 (03:37):
And and so What I did was is I got
the pitch shift on the two track recorder, the analog
two track recorder, and I turned it up slightly so
that when you played it back a real speed, it
sounded a bit slower and therefore a bit deeper. And
that went on for a little while until.
Speaker 6 (04:01):
Until it didn't. I don't know whether he knew about that,
but yeah.
Speaker 1 (04:07):
What was it?
Speaker 6 (04:08):
So was it?
Speaker 4 (04:09):
So this is where it ended up. His voice here
be there, Michael Hill Jeweler.
Speaker 7 (04:14):
Yeah, you can hear it, you can hear it, but
our commercials were not quite there, you know, they were
just sort of shifted down slowly.
Speaker 2 (04:24):
It's so iconic and for him to be a businessman,
and it's sort of a confidence thing, as you say,
like as the as the nation sort of became more
confident into the eighties and business people came through.
Speaker 4 (04:36):
But to be the face of Michael Hill Jewelers. Was
was that odd at the time, because.
Speaker 6 (04:42):
It just well, yeah, man.
Speaker 7 (04:44):
That was the other thing is that in those days,
you would you were positively discouraged not to read your
own ads.
Speaker 6 (04:52):
That was quite you know, that was quite quite radical
to do that. You just you didn't you didn't do it, but.
Speaker 7 (05:00):
He did and then and then you know, time went
on and today you have Adrian and John from Magnuspenner
and everyone does their own ads. But it was it
was a bit of a departure in those days, that's
for sure.
Speaker 4 (05:10):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (05:10):
What was he like when he came into the studio built?
Did he have that confidence? Clearly he backed himself as
a bit of a hustler as well. Was that the
vibe you got that this was a guy who backs
himself wholeheartedly. He's going to sell the crap out of
out of his jewelry business, and that's arguably what got
him ahead.
Speaker 7 (05:27):
Oh no, I never noticed that. He was just very
He was just very friendly, very kind and knew what
he wanted. And you know he was pretty much in
and out like a robber's dog and very busy, busy guy.
Speaker 6 (05:38):
But no, he was nice. I liked them.
Speaker 2 (05:40):
Well, it's an incredible story to you know, be forty
years old, as I was saying, before, change the way
jewelry shops are run up there and fang it ay
then just explode to yachts and golf courses and giving
that much to the arts. I mean, it was an
unlikely arc you've got to.
Speaker 6 (05:57):
Say absolutely, you know. But like I said, here's one
of many.
Speaker 7 (06:01):
People who found the new environment in the mid eighties,
that whole revolution where New Zealand completely changed with in space.
Speaker 6 (06:11):
I mean, I remember fung it at that time.
Speaker 7 (06:13):
I mean I do know if school, but just there
was just development happening everywhere, you know, like there was,
and it was repeated all around New Zealand where suddenly
people could you know, borrow but the regulations were removed.
Speaker 6 (06:29):
I mean, yeah, New Zealand was.
Speaker 7 (06:31):
A very very different place before the Roger Douglas David
Longy government, that's for sure. So these guys, these guys
just they had the keys to the kingdom and off
they went.
Speaker 6 (06:42):
It was all not just not to the same extent.
Speaker 7 (06:45):
But in Soviet Russia when they got rid of communism,
no one.
Speaker 6 (06:50):
Really knew what to do, and maybe not quite as extreme.
Speaker 7 (06:55):
But in New Zealand, the people that did ever bit
of get up and go, they just went for it
and did all sorts.
Speaker 6 (07:01):
Of cool things.
Speaker 2 (07:02):
Yeah, it was all Porschas being abandoned on the Harbor
Bridge and then huge stock market crash in eighty seven
and then since then we'll pull our head back in
and just invested in property.
Speaker 4 (07:13):
Going back to the previous hour, Hey, thank you, thank
you so much. Bill.
Speaker 6 (07:17):
Good to chat to you, good to catch up. MT
to see It for more from News Talks, ed B.
Speaker 1 (07:22):
Listen live on air or online, and keep our shows
with you wherever you go with our podcasts on iHeartRadio
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