H. W. BEATTIE & SONS, INC., one of Cleveland's foremost diamond merchants, was founded by Hugh W. Beattie, a Canadian jeweler and watchmaker who came to Cleveland in 1884. At first he carried on his own jewelry business while working as a watchmaker at the Chas. Stein store at the corner of Prospect and Ontario, but soon established his own store at Scovill and Kennard (E. 46th) streets. When Beattie purchased the partnership of Baxter & Craig in 1890, he moved downtown to the newly opened ARCADE, joined by his brother, George, during the 1890s. The store gradually eliminated its jewelry stock, and after 1906 dealt exclusively in jewels. Beattie began creating designs using unmounted diamonds, emeralds, rubies, and other stones for his store window. The displays, designed by his son, Milton, beginning in 1916, gained world fame for their artistry.
In 1917 Geo. Beattie began his own jewelry firm in the Arcade. Three years later, H.W. Beattie took his sons, Reveley G., Hugh N., and Milton M., into the partnership, which was incorporated in 1926. In 1920 Beattie opened a second store in the Bulkley Bldg. on PLAYHOUSE SQUARE, decorated by Rorimer Brooks, and 12 years later he relocated it and all its furnishings to 1117 Euclid Ave. After Geo. Beattie's death in 1959, Beattie & Sons bought out his store in the Arcade and operated it for 17 years. Beattie's has remained a family-owned business; in 1993 Milton and his son, Ralph M., were officers of the company, with several other family members among its 18 employees.