An 86-year-old jeweller went silent on customers holding tickets for their own watches

Bijouterie Pépin had sold and repaired jewellery and watches in Orléans for 86 years, run in its final period by Émilie Pépin, the founder's granddaughter. Trouble began in June 2023, when the shop said it uncovered thefts and fraud involving staff — all six employees left the business around the same time, by the owner's account let go within minutes.

The shop then suffered what Pépin called a major water damage incident. With only Pépin and her husband left to run every file, the business shut its doors for weeks without explaining why to the customers who had left watches and jewellery for repair. Some had been waiting since January with no updates and no way to reach the shop by phone.

The tribunal de commerce d'Orléans placed the business in judicial receivership on September 11, 2024, on evidence that months of closure had left it with no trading activity to support a rescue. Receivership gave way to liquidation less than a month later, on October 9, 2024, ending the possibility of the reopening Pépin said she had intended. More than 750 lots of jewellery and watches from the store were sold at a public auction on December 7, 2024, with roughly 200 further pieces from customer repair tickets still unidentified and unreturned.