Goldschmiede Obsession

Goldschmiede OBSESSION runs on two addresses and one rule: you book before you visit. There's no glass counter in central Zürich where you can wander in and try rings on during a lunch break. The Zürich shop sits at In Gassen 6, a short walk from Paradeplatz, and it works entirely by appointment, worth knowing before you show up expecting a typical walk-in jewellery store.

The business is run by a married pair of goldsmiths, Alexandra and Matthias Frei. Alexandra is listed on the atelier's own team page as "Geschäftsinhaberin / Goldschmiede-Meisterin", owner and a qualified master goldsmith, and the same page credits her with having created and designed pieces continuously since the company's founding. Matthias holds the "gestalterische Leitung" title, creative direction, and is described there as the one who keeps new ideas moving through the firm. The site's own copyright line reads "1999-2026", which puts the workshop at over two decades old, matching its own claim on the atelier page of "über 20 Jahren" behind it.

That history comes with two locations, and they are not equivalent. The photo captions on the site's own hours page label the Wetzikon address, Bahnhofstrasse 55, as "Geschäft und Atelier": shop and workshop together. The Zürich address is captioned only "Geschäft in Zürich": shop, without the workshop label. If you want to see where the actual bench work happens, Wetzikon is it. Zürich came later: the press page marks a new Zürich branch, called a "Dependance", as open from 1 December 2013, and the same page's image captions place it at Storchengasse 7 near In Gassen, the same corner by Paradeplatz where the shop sits today.

What a consultation looks like

Both locations describe their appointment slots as "Jederzeit auf Termin" (always by appointment) with short-notice bookings possible, and both state that consultations are given personally "von Alex und Matthias", by Alexandra and Matthias themselves rather than a rotating sales floor. The published appointment windows are Tuesday to Friday 9:30 to 18:30 and Saturday 9:30 to 16:00 in Wetzikon, and Tuesday to Friday 11:00 to 18:30 and Saturday 11:00 to 17:00 in Zürich. You reach either shop by phone, Wetzikon on 044 970 25 60 and Zürich on 044 212 11 88, or through an online contact form.

For an expat, one thing is worth flagging plainly: the entire site, contact form included, is in German only, with no English toggle anywhere on it. Nothing on the pages I read promises an English-speaking consultation. If your German is thin, it's worth asking about this directly on the phone before booking, or bringing someone who can translate, rather than assuming international service the way you might at a larger Bahnhofstrasse name.

The bench itself

Behind the two shop counters is a small, named team rather than an anonymous workshop. Dominique Linhardt trained as a goldsmith at the firm itself, has stayed on for over 10 years, and now trains the apprentices herself: a master teaching the next generation on the same bench where she learned. Two apprentices are currently working through it, Aylin Hiller, who started a shortened apprenticeship in autumn 2023, and Zaira Guldimann, who started in autumn 2025. A sixth name worth knowing if you deal with the shop online: Sylvia Müseler ran marketing from the Zürich shop for over 4 years before relocating to Namibia, where she still handles the atelier's online presence remotely.

The workshop's design credentials go past routine repair and resizing work. In 2012, a custom Gremlin-model ring set with what the atelier's own image captions call the world's largest round Tahitian pearl took second place at the International Pearl Grand Prix. A related Gremlin design in 750 red gold with brilliant-cut diamonds and a Tahitian pearl is also part of the same collection. Press coverage has followed: a feature in the Tages-Anzeiger's "Luxus" supplement in 2016, a spot in MIS lifestyle magazine, and an interview with a team member at the Zurich wedding fair for Hochzeitsmagazin Braut & Bräutigam. None of that proves what your own ring will look like, but it does show a workshop that competes on original design rather than one that only resizes stock settings.

Materials, pricing and an old gold trade-in

Custom commission pricing isn't posted anywhere on the site I could find, which is normal for bespoke work priced against a design brief and the day's metal cost, but worth flagging so you don't go looking for a rate card before your first visit. What is posted is the atelier's old gold buy-back scheme, running since 2009, which the site says has let it stop using any "new" gold in its own production. Bring old gold to either shop and staff weigh it on the spot against that day's fine gold rate: a cash payout at the daily rate minus CHF 10 per gram, paid in cash up to CHF 1000 and by bank transfer above that, or a store credit at the daily rate minus CHF 3 per gram, which is cumulative and can go toward a future purchase. That credit route is worth knowing if you already own gold you're not using and are planning a custom engagement ring: it becomes a direct discount on the commission rather than a separate transaction. The atelier is also listed as a member of the Swiss Oekogold label for its recycling practice.

What isn't published

I didn't find a published resizing policy, warranty terms, or turnaround time for a custom commission on the pages I read, nor any mention of international shipping or customs handling for a piece bought while living in Switzerland only temporarily. That's a real gap for an expat audience, and it means those questions belong in your first phone call rather than something you can check online beforehand.

Who it suits

This fits someone who already has a fairly clear idea of what they want, a family stone to reset, a specific silhouette, a wedding band to match, and who is comfortable booking ahead and having that first conversation in German or arranging their own translation. It's a weaker fit if you want to browse casually before committing to an appointment, or if confirmed English-language service is a hard requirement, since nothing on the site promises it.

The verdict

A family workshop with over two decades of trading behind it, a real production bench in Wetzikon backing the Zürich shop, named goldsmiths rather than an anonymous studio, and design work that has placed in an international competition rather than only handling repairs. The gold buy-back terms are unusually specific for an industry that's often vague about pricing. The main caveat for an international buyer is language and appointment planning rather than anything about the workshop's competence: this isn't a shop you can drop into on a whim, and the whole process, from first phone call to first fitting, should be expected to run in German unless you check otherwise.