[Shopping] Beautiful Accident Paris, affordable Customized Jewelry
Just before the Covid, my sister and I went to the Marais for a massage. Being very early, we went around the neighborhood and my flair did the rest: I found a beautiful jewelry store: Beautiful Accident.
The jewelry was so beautiful and well executed that I didn’t immediately grasp that it was made by ankle (an expression that means they are hand made), until I opened the door and saw the workshop, the tools and the jewelers. Having taken a few jewelry courses, I have some notions and what struck me was the technicality behind each piece of jewelry, I have never seen this type of jewelry, nor this type of texture in my jewelry books and it intrigued me.
Beautiful Accident en París
129 rue Vielle du temple, Paris 75003
This post is NOTsponsored. I paid for everything out of my own pocket as usual…de
Behind Beautiful Accident is Bruno Caby. Bruno is accompanied by Anne Charlotte Pontus, a talented and very sympathetic jeweller.
The most famous model at Beautiful Accident is this personalized message ring, where you can create sentences, words… things that speak to you. Some people ask you to write the lyrics of a song, it exists in ring, bracelet, pendant, earrings format. And if you want, the sentence can be hidden too, i.e. the letters are inside the ring… so you avoid that everyone asks to read what is written on your ring ahaha. Bruno tells us that this is a secret creation process, quite similar to the lost wax method, but it’s not wax, but it’s not laser either (laser would have given a much less satisfying result).
It is the alliance par excellence! Sober, meaningful, personalized … the bride and groom will love this type of ring.
After a few months drooling over all their creations on Instagram, I decided to go through their door for the second time, to finally get a globe pendant. Temporarily living in Rouen, I can’t move around the capital any more, so I ordered it simply by email.
Silver Planet Earth Pendant
The pendant I like is called Gaïa. It is simply our Planet Earth. In Greek mythology, Gaia is a primordial goddess identified with the “Mother Goddess”.
The version I saw in the store is covered with a blue lacquer inside. It is transparent enough to let the shine of the metal through.
It’s a good thing we don’t have a sterling silver pendant because it would have been too heavy to wear.
The pendant is just sublime!
I inquire about the durability of the pendant, if friction between the chain and the pendant can damage the pendant and the chain, and Bruno reassures me that there will be no problems. And that the chain simply has to be passed through the Bering Strait. I thought it was a French expression that I didn’t know, but in reality, since it’s a globe, you really pass the chain through the Bering Strait from the globe ahahah. As a precaution, I choose a silver chain in my collection in the shape of a wave, it keeps the pendant in place.
Second request, since I like to personalize my jewelry a little: instead of the blue color, I ask that the inside be gold-plated. Apparently, I’m the first to ask for it, but certainly not the last because the result is just beautiful!
Rates : I opted for the smallest size (13mm diameter). The basic pendant (blue planet) costs 95€.
If you want the gold plating in addition, like me, count 30€ more.
If you can’t come to Paris, Bruno will send it to you by Colissimo Suivi for 10€
The realization is extremely fast. I ordered my pendant by email, I received an answer in a few hours and the pendant is ready in a few days. Bruno even sent me the picture of the pendant as soon as it was finished. His hands are still all black from polishing.
Well, now we’re going to talk technique.
To make a globe of this type, there are at least two techniques:
- theoretically, one can cut from two silver planks – with a bocfil (mini jeweller’s saw) and then bend the two planks to form two half-spheres. Then solder is made to join the two half-spheres and polished. This method is extremely difficult because the two half-spheres have to match (at country level) and the “cuttings” make the planks fragile. It is a very well known method to make spheres without holes (well, a very small hole so that during welding, the whole thing doesn’t explode), but to make spheres with holes and huge cutouts…. good luck!
- the method Bruno chose is 3D printing. It looks easy like that but a lot of jewellers have broken their neck with 3D printers. It’s not that easy to set up. Between the model you create on the computer and the rendering, the adjustment to be made… Bruno tells me that he masters this tool so well that the brand of this printer has chosen him as an ahaah ambassador. So the wax model is printed with the 3D printing machine. Then, thanks to the lost-wax casting method, we get the globe in silver, or gold, or platinum.
Now let’s talk about the color inside the globe :
- With the globe inside blue, the lacquer is electroplated and then baked in the oven. The outside is polished to remove the lacquer layer deposited on it. Then, rhodium plating is done on the outside by electrolysis (rhodium plating is recommended i.e. cover the silver with a thin layer of rhodium, a metal that is super expensive, but gives shine because pure silver can become all black and lacks shine). It is no longer necessary to protect the lacquer on the inside because it isn’t conductive.
- With my globe inside gold plated, the whole globe is gold plated first. Then the outside is polished to remove the gold plating layer.
- If you want to rhodium on the outside, it becomes technically complicated because both sides (outside, inside) are conductive. So to rhodium only the outside, it is necessary to cover the inside with a red solution (sparing varnish) which protects it from electrolysis. Then the globe is rhodium plated. The outside is covered with a layer of rhodium. Then the sparing varnish is removed with acetone. And we have an ultra shiny outside and the inside gold-plated
For the interior, theoretically, you can ask for the color you want. There are solutions for everything and Bruno will be able to find the pigment, enamel or lacquer that suits you. Personally, I chose gold-plated because it suits my complexion and makes the pendant more discreet. But you can choose what you want: red, black, or stay on blue. Even for the outside, you can choose to blacken the silver to create a contrast with the inside in gothic mode. For the interior, you can make yellow gold, pink gold, or stay on rhodium. BRIEF. This is custom-made, and these jewelers like to offer things that are out of the ordinary, so feel free to customize your jewelry.
I show you other models.
On the left: the same pendant, but in gold version. There is no need to rhodium-plated yellow gold. The pendant is sublime in real, it is absolutely necessary to go to see it in store.
On the right: the same technique used for the message rings, applied in the most creative way… the texture is incredible. You have to touch it in real life. It’s not laser again.
The globe exists in pendant, earrings and in three sizes. You can order it in silver, gold… or even platinum if needed.
Very difficult to realize technically, these “meshes” come out of the 3D printer in one piece. Impressive!
The “you rock” pendant is really cute, but I could see on their Instagram a two-sided ring: “fuck on” and “fuck off” ahahaha it’s the consent ring #metoo
The Stardust model is in my wishlist as well. The advantage of this model, like the message rings, is that there are many possible places for the stones. And of course, since you are in a jeweler’s shop, you are encouraged to choose THE stone that suits you. Even bring your own stone if you want. I think they won’t say no if you replace the stars with hearts.
It’s hard to believe but these chains are made with a 3D printer, it comes out of the machine in one piece (in wax) then with the lost wax casting method, we get the jewel in the metal we want. I don’t dare to imagine the polishing work to do behind, just imagining it stresses me (too much, too much work) so I prefer to look at the final result 😀
What impressed me a lot were these puzzle-like rings. Jewelry with an opening mechanism or hidden rivets like this are extremely difficult to make, and are a little bit like the world of watchmakers. Then, to find the right curvature of the puzzle pieces, so that it fits the finger perfectly (each size has a special curvature), it’s very difficult too.
Conclusion
Beautiful Accident offers timeless designs that can please everyone: those who like massive jewelry, as well as those who like small discreet jewelry like me. The possibility to personalize your jewelry is a luxury that we no longer have these days, and Beautiful Accident is one of the few jewelers to offer very affordable jewelry, with a unique, creative and customizable design.
The quality is of course superior to what can be found in classic jewelry. Technicality is at the RDV, each jewel is a masterpiece, we are both in admiration of the technical ingenuity behind each jewel, but technicality isn’t everything, because in the end, what we all want is a beautiful jewel, easy to wear, durable and timeless.
Beautiful Accident en París
129 rue Vielle du temple, Paris 75003
