Pradoren, the Swiss savoir-faire of a jewelry workshop

Somewhere between mountains and lake hides a postcard-looking Swiss village. A treasure to discover! In the center of this village is located the historical workshop of the Maison Baenteli, whose know-how is now well established.

The workshop was taken over by Hakim Allou in 2014. With only four employees at the time, the young yet experienced Frenchman made sure to deliver the best high jewelry pieces, with special attention to the quality of manufacturing, as well as gem sourcing and ethics.

With over 10 years of experience, Hakim Allou has already collaborated with the greatest brands of the Paris Place Vendôme who entrusted him with very beautiful projects.

A jewelry workshop with unquestionable know-how

The Pradoren jewelry workshop has nothing to envy to the know-how of the Place Vendôme, quite the contrary. It is located in an ideal environment for jewelry and lapidary know-how, where Swiss manufacturers have reached a level of excellence one may not expect compared to their watchmaker neighbors.

Indeed, we have learnt that the Pradoren workshop manufactures jewelry pieces for the greatest names of the Place Vendôme – though we cannot mention anyone - and thus fulfills absolutely all the criteria required by French high jewelry.

After more than 10 years developing costume jewelry and high jewelry, in Europe and abroad, Hakim Allou develops production for European jewelry brands. As a result, Pradoren has become one of the largest independent European workshops. In only three years, it grew importantly and currently hires 15 people. The workshop values traditional craftsmanship and quality over quantity. It successfully combines different crafts, watchmaking, jewelry and design, while maintaining a strong team spirit and the genuine implication of the craftsmen who appreciate working in a human-scale company.

While visiting the workshop, we were struck by its cleanliness and meticulousness. A united and smiling team and an undeniable will to achieve a flawless product.

The strength of this particular jewelry workshop is the use of traditional jewelry techniques combined with a thrive for perfection that gives a very qualitative result in the details of each piece, whether it is an access category jewel to be mass produced by thousands of pieces or a unique piece of high jewelry.

Indeed, Pradoren takes up the challenge of offering the same level of quality for both high-jewelry pieces and mass production, by way of traditional craftsmanship instead of industrial manufacturing.

An ethically minded jewelry workshop

To meet the demands of both brands and consumers, the Pradoren workshop has taken a step ahead and has chosen to work with ethical gold and strict stone sourcing.

The workshop gets its supplies from Peruvian mines and is involved in the development of the country by paying a bonus (premium) when buying stones, which is then donated to local miners. This bonus finances various development projects in Peru and encourages Peruvians to only work with approved refiners who do not use lead.

Pradoren also uses recycled gold and requires its suppliers to know the traceability of the gems. In collaboration with Px Compact (gold refining sourcer), the Pradoren workshop also works with ethical gold.

Thanks to its office in Bangkok that sources the gems and regularly visits the mines to check on the working conditions of laborers, Pradoren has obtained the RJC certification and, most importantly, it offers its customers gems of constant quality, especially sapphires.