When I was an apprentice, there was a jeweller who came to my workshop and who impressed me. My boss used to tell me that he had worked for the greatest, so it was quiet! He never spoke to me, not even a hello, nothing. Going to make deliveries at his place was a torment. After all, I was the apprentice. At Christmas, my boss would hang a stocking on the wall for me. The tradition came from her apprenticeship and she kept it alive. The customers would put my Christmas presents in it. I remember that famous Christmas because I found a 200 franc note in my stocking. That was a lot for an apprentice. When I found out that it was from this jeweller, I was astonished. My boss said to me, “You keep quiet, you listen and you learn. These are the only things that matter to him. And even if the job takes a while to come in. You’ll have to go and thank him in January.”
M., polisher for 15 years.
Platinum, bis repetita
Platinum is a fickle metal, but it is the most beautiful metal for designing jewellery. I can talk about its colour, its reflections and the shine it gives to diamonds for hours. It's nothing like rhodium-plated gold. And then historically, when we wanted to put white, we did it...