The Luckenbooth

I have walked passed The Luckenbooth countless times over the years, and I always thought it was a pub from a distance, but I went in recently and realised it was tourist shop — who knew?!! Situated in the centre of the Royal Mile, The Luckenbooth is right in the centre of the city and so it is always a firm favourite with the tourists.
The Lukenbooth is more than the traditional tourists shops on the Royal Mile which sell everything whisky or tartan related. This store specialises in selling Scottish jewellery with Macintosh and Celtic designs. I have been into this once with a tourist friend who bought a necklace with a Celtic design on it. Bracelets, rings and kilt pins are among the other items which The Luckenbooth sell, which are all incredibly reasonably priced. The jewellery doesn’t really appeal to me, perhaps because I am Scottish, but it always appears to go down well with the tourists.
If you ever want to buy traditional Scottish jewellery, The Luckenbooth is the place to go.

The Luckenbooth, on the Royal Mile, is a refreshing change from the normal Edinburgh tourist shop fare. So many of these places are full of useless tat that would only lure in a gullible tourist. The Luckenbooth is breaking the mould by offering something a bit different.
Jewellery is what this place majors on. According to Wikipedia, this is one of many shops that have would have existed on the Royal Mile since the 16^th century, selling Scottish jewellery. Some of the items they offered did look pretty nice, but as Jonny says, the range of designs is quite limited. Good if you like that sort of stuff though.
Together with the jewellery, there is a small range of other Scottish gifts available to purchase. Fortunately, this does not dominate. And anyway, there are tourist shops all over the place, so there’s always a place just round the corner to satisfy your need for a kilt towel.

This is most definitely a Royal Mile Shop. Walking down one of Edinburgh’s most famous streets, you will be confronted by what seems like endless «Scottish» shops all selling «kilts», postcards, tea towels and generally anything that can be covered in tartan.
The Luckenbooth, at first sight, looks just like another one of these tourist gimmicks. In some ways it is. But it does offer something a little different. It is a jewellery shop selling genuine Scottish made jewellery. And some of these trinkets are indeed quite nice. Keep in mind that its Scottish focus is quite narrow. This tends to mean neo-​Celtic design and maybe some Mackintosh. Don’t start your career in Scottish art and design history here.
So The Luckenbooth though first appearing like all the others, does offer something a bit different, more niche. Or so its seems. It never quite escapes this fate. Alongside the jewellery and silverware you will still find some tartan rubbish and touristy «Scottish hats».

I just do not understand this place at all.
Ok, so it is a tourist shop on the Royal Mile, so yes, immediatly I have reservations against it, but the Lucken Booth is actually a cut above the rest of the horrible places around here by not selling tartan covered crap.
What it does sell is local and traditional Scottish jewelry — most of which is actually really rather nice. But what I dont understand is that you can only have so many variants of celtic crosses and symbols before you run out of ideas and yet there they all are — hundreds and hundreds of them. Who in thier right mind would want to buy some of this stuff? Oh, thats right — tourists.

The Luckenbooth is your typical Royal Mile jewellery shop. A step above the tourist traps but not quite at the classy level of places on Rose St, it is nevertheless good at showcasing the kind of jewellery makers Scotland has to offer.
Selling the usual suspects — Heathergems, Ortak etc — there are some real finds in here if you’re looking for contemporary Scottish necklaces and rings.
Like the Tappit Hen and Scottish Experience Jewellery, the Luckenbooth has some real treats on offer. They’re not cheap but they don’t exactly break the bank, either. Great for tourists looking for treasure that isn’t sprayed with tartan, or locals on the prowl for a gift. You might get lucky!