Pérez Goldschmied

Pérez Goldschmied sits just off Löwenplatz, a short walk from Bahnhofstrasse, in a shopfront that the atelier's own Instagram bio describes as combining a display window, sales floor and workshop in one space. It is a genuine two-person bench: brothers Edwin and Robert Pérez have run the business together since 2005, in what the site itself calls the second generation of the family trade, with their sister Corinne Pérez handling marketing, the shop window displays and event planning rather than the metalwork. That combination, two working goldsmiths whose own name is on the door and who still cut and set pieces themselves, is worth more in this category than most of what gets called handmade, since a lot of small studios badge work that was actually cast elsewhere.

The commercial register lists Pérez Goldschmied GmbH (UID CHE-113.527.300) as entered on 23.03.2007, two years after the brothers say they started trading together, which tracks with how plenty of small Swiss craft businesses actually operate: they open on a handshake and only formalise the company once the workload justifies it. The register gives the same Usteristrasse 17 address and shows the company as active, and current search results and social accounts both show ongoing posting and business hours, so there's no sign here of a listing that has outlived the shop behind it.

What a commission actually looks like

For someone new to Zurich without a jeweller of their own yet, the process starts online: the site runs a booking form for a Beratungstermin, a consultation appointment, so a first meeting can be requested without walking in cold. Edwin is presented on the site as the atelier's creative lead, working from sketches, rough models, photographs and pieces already sitting in the workshop's own collection to bring a client's idea into focus step by step, rather than asking for a decision on a final render at the first meeting. Robert is described as the one who carries repairs, reworking and the more demanding custom orders through to completion while keeping oversight of the whole operation, so the two brothers split the creative and the operational side of the business rather than both doing a bit of everything.

Anyone who already owns a stone or an inherited piece has a named path here: Umarbeitung, reworking, covers bringing in an heirloom no longer worn, or loose stones, and turning them into something with a different character. There is also a plain old-gold trade-in, Altgold, where the atelier credits a client's old gold toward a new commission at the current day market rate rather than a fixed figure. None of that comes with a published number attached. There's no price list on the site, no stated minimum order, and no published lead time for how long a custom ring takes from first sketch to finished piece, so the honest expectation for a newcomer is to treat the first consultation as the point where a real figure and timeline get discussed, not to assume a walk-in quote.

What they make, and how they talk about materials

The site organises its work into six galleries: Trauringe (wedding rings), Verlobungsringe (engagement rings), Herrenschmuck (men's jewellery), Ohrschmuck (earrings), Silberschmuck (silver jewellery) and a general Ringe section, each with its own short write-up and photo gallery rather than one catch-all page. That breadth matters for a couple buying an engagement ring together, since matching wedding bands or a men's piece can come from the same bench later without starting the relationship over with a new goldsmith.

On materials, the atelier is more specific than most competitors bother to be. They describe working with Oekogold, gold recovered from old jewellery rather than freshly mined ore, refined using modern extraction technology without the toxic chemicals older recycling processes relied on, and say their gemstones come from fair-trade mines. That checks out against a second source: Pérez Goldschmied is listed as one of the named suppliers on oekogold.ch's own sourcing page, which is a more concrete claim than the vague "ethically sourced" language most jewellers use.

The practical details for someone new to the city

The shop is closed on Mondays, then open Tuesday to Friday from 10:00 to 18:30 and Saturday from 10:00 to 17:00, worth flagging for anyone used to a country where Monday trading is normal. It sits close to three parking options for anyone driving in rather than using transit: Parkhaus Globus is a 1-minute walk away, with City Parking and Parkhaus Jelmoli both around 4 minutes on foot, useful if you don't yet know which of the old town's car parks are worth trusting. Contact runs through +41 44 241 25 24 or info@perez-goldschmied.ch, and the site also carries a general contact form alongside the consultation booking form.

One real gap worth naming for this tenant's readers: the site is entirely in German, with no English toggle anywhere in the navigation, the galleries or the booking form. Nothing on the pages states whether the brothers work with clients in English day to day, so anyone whose German isn't confident should email ahead and ask before booking a slot, rather than assume the consultation will run in English by default. That's a fair caveat rather than a reason to look elsewhere: plenty of workshops this size in Zurich never build an English page at all, and a short email ahead of time resolves it before any money or time is spent.

Who this suits

Pérez Goldschmied fits a couple who want an engagement or wedding ring actually designed with them, sketch by sketch, rather than picked off a display tray, especially if there's an heirloom stone or an old gold piece sitting in a drawer that could become part of the new one. It also suits a buyer who cares that the metal in the ring did not come straight out of a new mine, since that claim is specific enough here to check rather than take on faith. It fits less well if firm pricing needs to be known before a first visit is worth the trip, since none is published, or if the whole process needs to run in English without checking first. What holds up under scrutiny is the basic story: a named, still-working pair of brothers, a specific trading history back to 2005 that lines up with an independently checkable company register, and a materials claim that another site corroborates. That is more than most listings in this category can show, and it is a business worth booking a consultation with.