Midweek Modness: Rafael Canada Owl Pendant

This may not be a great image, but it’s a wonderful story. This pendant belongs to Linda — a friend of Mr. Andrew’s from university. We ran into her over the holidays at a get together for our mutual friend Judy, who was in town for a visit. I was also wearing a Rafael pendant so of course we got to talking.

Turns out that Linda had befriended Rafael Alfandary and his wife back in the 1990s. He had recently returned from Japan and had taken up residence in the Manulife building. He had also returned to making jewellery and gifted Linda with several pieces while regaling her with stories of the 1970s when he hung out with Margaret Trudeau and Mohammed Ali. His place still had a swinging seventies vibe and apparently he liked to receive guests in a gigantic bed.

Strangely enough, the owl was not one of Alfandary’s presents. Stanley’s Convenience on Bathurst Street in the Annex (another colourful Toronto icon — Pierre Trudeau used to drop by the variety store when visiting his baby mama… but that’s another story) used to sell latter day, mass-produced Rafael Canada pieces. Linda popped in one day, spotted the jewels and bought the whole lot for a song. Her hoot owl is one of those pieces. I’ve been tempted to drop by myself to see if any slipped through the cracks.

Another thing Linda told me: The template for this owl is the same shape as Alfandary’s iconic Mohammed Ali pendant.