Costume jeweller

From assembling and closing the links of a chain or a belt, to setting a crystal or a pearl as a cabochon: with each meticulous movement, the costume jeweller relies on a set of patiently acquired skills. To make bejewelled adornments and fashion accessories, the costume jeweller can choose from a wide range of high-quality materials: brass, silver, tin, rhinestones, crystal, faux pearls, glass, enamel, paper, recycled materials, and more.

Some of the costume jeweller’s techniques have become specialities in their own right. The work of the processor precedes or supplements that of the costume jeweller: they transform a metal’s surface through a variety of techniques: polishing-brightening, gold plating, setting, and enamelling. The resin decorator works with a natural or synthetic polymer to embellish part of the jewellery. The resulting effect may look like enamelling, but it doesn’t use the same set of skills.