The first time I went into a polishing shop, I thought it was so dirty! I had hardly been warned, and I never thought it could be so dirty. Dust everywhere, on the workstation, on the floor, on the walls. And I’m not even talking about the polisher. A chimney sweep wouldn’t have been less disgusting…
But, strangely enough, I learned to like it. I’ve faced the jewellers’ dubious jokes about the job, and I’ve learnt how to answer them. I’m not going to let it happen to me. After all, they need me too much.
And then I became intimate with the metal, I understood how to tame it, how to make it shine, how to remove marks and small defects like clouds of pricks. And I can even say that it is a very tactile job, almost sensual. I give the metal a colour, a shine, I allow the stones to have even more light. And above all, I have a particular pleasure in highlighting the work of the jewellers, setters and engravers with whom I work. And I find that very gratifying. I only regret that few young people train in this profession and only retain the dust. Because it is well known that the more polishing black a polisher is covered with, the more beautiful the jewel is!
M.S., jewellery polisher for 15 years.
Dust
The first time I went into a polishing shop, I thought it was so dirty! I had hardly been warned, and I never thought it could be so dirty. Dust everywhere, on the workstation, on the floor, on the walls. And I'm not even talking about the polisher. A...