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                                                                    Exhibit 31.1

CERTIFICATE PURSUANT TO RULE 13A-14A UNDER THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
OF THE PRINCIPAL EXECUTIVE OFFICER



I, Lucinda M. Baier certify that:

1.       I have reviewed this annual report on Form 10-K/A of Whitehall
         Jewellers, Inc.;

2.       Based on my knowledge, this report does not contain any untrue
         statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary
         to make the statements made, in light of the circumstances under which
         such statements were made, not misleading with respect to the period
         covered by this report;


3.       The registrant's other certifying officer and I are responsible for
         establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as
         defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) and internal
         control over financial reporting (as defined in Exchange Act Rules
         13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f)) for the registrant and have:

              (a) Designed such disclosure controls and procedures, or caused
         such disclosure controls and procedures to be designed under our
         supervision, to ensure that material information relating to the
         registrant, including its consolidated subsidiaries, is made known to
         us by others within those entities, particularly during the period in
         which this report is being prepared;

              (b) Designed such internal control over financial reporting, or
         caused such internal control over financial reporting to be designed
         under our supervision, to provide reasonable assurance regarding the
         reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial
         statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted
         accounting principles;

              (c) Evaluated the effectiveness of the registrant's disclosure
         controls and procedures and presented in this report our conclusions
         about the effectiveness of the disclosure controls and procedures, as
         of the end of the period covered by this report based on such
         evaluation; and

              (d) Disclosed in this report any change in the registrant's
         internal control over financial reporting that occurred during the
         registrant's most recent fiscal quarter (the registrant's fourth fiscal
         quarter in the case of an annual report) that has materially affected,
         or is reasonably likely to materially affect, the registrant's internal
         control over financial reporting; and

4.       The registrant's other certifying officer and I have disclosed, based
         on our most recent evaluation of internal control over financial
         reporting, to the registrant's auditors and the audit committee of the
         registrant's board of directors (or persons performing equivalent
         functions):

              (a) All significant deficiencies and material weaknesses in the
         design or operation of internal control over financial reporting which
         are reasonably likely to adversely affect the registrant's ability to
         record, process, summarize and report financial information; and

              (b) Any fraud, whether or not material, that involves management
         or other employees who have a significant role in the registrant's
         internal control over financial reporting.


Date:  May 31, 2005

                                     /s/ Lucinda M. Baier
                                     --------------------
                                     Name: Lucinda M. Baier
                                     Title: Chief Executive Officer, President
                                     And Chief Operating Officer
                                     (Principal Executive Officer)