A Family Story

The family history

In 1987, Olivier Honegger left the French metropole for French Guiana to undertake his military service. He had previously studied forestry, and at the end of his service, decided to remain in French Guiana to become a gold prospector. Despite his limited knowledge of the region, he mastered the laws of the forest and soon began his first search for gold in the surrounding rivers.

French Guiana's landscape is dominated by dense rainforest crisscrossed by countless rivers and streams, waterways that have carried gold from ancient rock formations for thousands of years. This remote territory, where nature remains largely undisturbed, would become the foundation of his understanding of gold in its purest form.

As his activity developed, Olivier met Tamara, a young woman born in Brazil who, like him, had left everything behind to live in the heart of French Guiana. In this territory where nature reigns and the quest for gold is a way of life, their daughter Esther was born and grew up fully immersed in the culture of gold panning. This heritage, rooted in exploration and resilience, would later become a defining influence in the creation of the Honegger brand.

Woman beside a river and a building in the jungle

Heritage

In 2020, Esther inherited a necklace that had once belonged to her grandmother — designed by her mother and made with gold nuggets found by her father. Within it, the story of three generations was etched in gold. This heirloom sparked a quiet conviction: to carry that legacy forward. In 2023, she founded Honegger. The necklace passed down through generations became the house's very first creation.