Rue de la parish, in the heart of the citadel district in Bastia, Arega Créations is a small jewelry store unlike any other. From the entrance, Isabelle’s jewelry, the designer, is displayed on antique furniture, “Flea market”. In the middle of the bracelets, necklaces and other rings on display, throne, under a bell, a bridal crown from the end of the 1920s. “I wanted something chic and cozy, I found the furniture, I retyped them and added this wreath that belonged to my grandmother”, explains the designer.
But the magic operates in the back room, accessible to all via a few steps under an arch. Isabelle sometimes invites her clients to come and see her work in her workshop: “I do everything here, everything is handmade and I buy all of my raw materials in France, I have no problem with people seeing me working. On the contrary, I really like answering their questions about jewelry making ”.
For jewelry mainly in silver or brass, sometimes covered with 24 carat gold, Isabelle makes it a point of honor that the prices remain accessible to all: “It is not because these are original hand-made pieces that they should be reserved only for certain people. My range starts at thirty euros, it is important for me that young girls, perhaps students, can also afford pretty things ”.
The inspiration cap corsine
If Isabelle was able to get started and create this concept, it is also thanks to the help of Pôle emploi Bastia: “I explained what I wanted to do, I was immediately directed towards training. I think these people are not thanked enough, but they help a lot of people ”.
Creative at heart, Isabelle is inspired by what surrounds her for her jewelry.
Evidence of this are the many bracelets with medals representing the emblematic monuments of Upper Corsica, such as the parish of Lavasina, Notre-Dame des Grâce. This hamlet in the Cap Corse region inspired the name of its shop. Indeed, “Arega” is the name of a stream running through the town of Brando, on which the hamlet depends.
After presenting her first jewelry for women to the public last December, Isabelle is now preparing her first pieces for men, to be discovered soon in windows.
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