About

Hello, my name is François Charest

What I do

I'm a jeweler and goldsmith from Montréal, Québec (Canada), where I have my workshop. 

I work by hand with gold, platinum and silver by fabricating directly in metal or by hand carving wax. 

I do custom work, for example making engagement rings, but I also have my personal collection that is available here, on my website. My specialty is jewelry with rough gemstone crystals, but I love cut stones too. 

I also do all types of repairs and transformations, meaning I can modify your jewelry, or use the gold and/or stone(s) to make someting brand new.

My story

My story in the world of jewelry began when I was 13 years old. I had a small rock collection and seeing my interest, my father brought me to the Club de Minéralogie de Montréal, where I started cutting gemstones and learning about mineralogy and gemmology.

Then, at 19, I started getting interested in precious metals, but more for the monetary history and investment side. It's not until I had some earrings made with a pair of stones that I cut, that I started making the connection.

At this point, I was studying Pure and Applied Sciences in college, but I quit mid semester (mid class, in fact) and applied at l'École de Joaillerie de Montréal for the next year. After only a week at the school, I knew I was at the right place. It was a "I should have done this earlier" moment.

During my last year at school, I was also working in a small jewelry shop and stayed there until the next year, when covid hit and the shop had to close. I started making jewelry for personnal clients and officially opened my business in october of 2020.