Some improbable tools. Photo: ©Marie Chabrol
“As an apprentice, I still remember the day I had my first shopping list to pick up. It was barely 48 hours since I had set foot in a jewellery workshop, and already I felt that I would have to demonstrate very quickly that I had a bit of gumption! Otherwise I would have to be gently shaken out of my skin…
Of course, I didn’t have the indecency to ask the chemical supplier if he sold elbow grease, but on the other hand, I was doubtful when I saw cyanide on my list. Was it possible that I had to buy this? And yet I did. I couldn’t forget those little glass bottles that seemed harmless enough. When I think back on it! I wonder what would have happened if I had been checked by the police… On the other hand, when I saw the term “endouilloir”, I thought I was being taken for a real dummy! So much so, that I didn’t dare ask the man behind the counter.
And when I think of the day when I walked up five workshops and a good twenty floors to get a crystal ring sizer…. And then, at the time, there were no mobile phones. Nowadays, every apprentice checks on Google to make sure they are not being fooled. But that was a different time! “
Pierre, jeweler for twenty years
See you soon!