Notre artisanat

Ten a day.
No more than that.

Every stone chosen by hand, every strap strung by one person start to finish. Here is exactly what that involves and what it costs in time.

Hands sorting mother-of-pearl stones on a black tray

Nothing here is fast

Each one is picked out of a tray of several hundred, matched for size to within half a millimetre and for colour by eye. That sorting is most of the work. The stringing itself takes twenty minutes.

Overhead view of a workbench with bead-sorting trays and a finished strap

The trays

Several hundred stones to a tray. A strap needs thirty-odd, matched for size, so most of the tray goes back.

Rejected stones with chipped edges and mismatched colour on a workbench

The rejects

Roughly a third never make it — chipped edges, dead colour, anything that will not sit flat against the next stone.

01.

Sorting

Stones come in 500 g lots, sold by weight. We keep about two thirds: the rest have chips, flat faces, or a colour that sits wrong against skin.

Gold lobster clasp on dark rock

02.

The part nobody looks at

It’s the most important part of the strap and the one you’ll never photograph. It’s also the reason the strap survives salt water, chlorine and sunscreen for years instead of months.

Hands stringing beads onto a cord over a woven basket

03.

Stringing

Each end is finished with a crimp, then a second crimp over the first. One artisan takes a strap from empty cable to finished piece. It is never passed down a line.

Cream beaded strap with black tassel on a shell
01

Sorting

Stones arrive by weight, not by grade. We buy in 500 g lots and reject roughly a third before anything is strung.

02

The part nobody looks at

The core is a 49-strand nylon-coated stainless steel wire. It is the most important part of the strap and the one you will never photograph. Non-stretch, so the piece keeps its line.

03

Stringing

Each end is finished with a crimp, then a second crimp over the first. One holds. The second is there because the first one is doing all the work.

04

Checking

Every pair is worn, pulled and rinsed before it is boxed. If a crimp moves, the strap is cut down and strung again.

Close-up of hands stringing beads onto a strap

Uluwatu, Bali

One pair of hands, start to finish

No production line, no outsourcing. The person who sorts your stones is the person who strings them and the person who checks them.

The specification

Everything we’d want to know if we were buying it.

Stones
Natural semi-precious stone and freshwater pearl. Never dyed glass, resin or reconstituted stone.
Stone diameter
6–10 mm depending on model. Matched to ±0.5 mm within a single strap.
Stones per strap
22 to 41, by model. Listed on every product page.
Cable
49-strand nylon-coated stainless steel. Non-stretch.
Clasp
316L stainless steel, 2.5 micron 18k gold plating. Lobster type, both ends.
Clasp point
Universal across every Bonjour piece, past and present.
Water
Salt and chlorine safe. Rinse in fresh water after swimming; dry flat.
Assembly
One artisan per strap, start to finish. Uluwatu, Bali. ~10 pieces per day, studio-wide.
Repair
Free re-stringing for life, first repair. Return shipping on us.

The clasp

Stainless steel, gold plated

A lobster clasp at both ends, 2.5 micron gold plating over 316L stainless. It is the same hardware on every strap in the collection, which is why any pair fits any garment.

  • Non-stretch 49-strand core
  • Double-crimped terminations
  • Universal fit across the range
  • Rinses clean in fresh water
See the nineteen straps

Made to be worn wet

Natural stones only

Semi-precious stone and real freshwater pearl. No dyed glass, no resin, no reconstituted stone. Colour varies piece to piece because the material does.

Hardware that survives salt

316L stainless under the plating, the grade used for marine fittings. Rinse in fresh water after the sea and dry it flat.

Repaired, not replaced

Send a broken strap back and the person who made it restrings it. Free for the first year, at cost afterwards.

Close-up of hands stringing beads onto a strap

Now do something with it.

You’ve got your three words. Here’s where they go next.

Ready-Made

Find the strap that already says it

Eighteen combinations we’ve already composed. Filter by stone or by intention and see which one lands.

See The Straps

Made With You

Come and string your own in Bali

Two hours at the bench in Uluwatu. You pick the stones, we teach you the finish, you leave wearing it.

Book The Atelier

Before You Buy

See how a strap is actually made

The sorting, the clasp, the cable, the ten-a-day limit. Everything that sits behind the price.

Our Craft

FAQ

Questions about the craft

Where are the straps made?

In our atelier in Uluwatu, Bali. Nothing is outsourced and nothing is assembled off-site.

Why only ten a day?

One person strings a pair from start to finish. Ten is what a pair of hands can do without the quality dropping, so ten is the number.

Can a strap be repaired?

Yes, and by the person who made it. Restringing is free for the first year and charged at cost afterwards.

Do the stones change colour over time?

Natural stone dulls slightly with skin oil and sunscreen. A rinse and a soft cloth brings it back. Nothing about the material degrades.

Want to create Your Own ?

Then make the one that does. Two hours at the bench in Uluwatu, your three stones, your phrase.

Discover the Workshop

By appointment · Ulu Cliffhouse, Uluwatu