V. Canale

V. Canale, also known commercially as Medailles Canale or Maison Canale, is a French manufacturer of medals, religious pendants, and Christian jewelry based in Paris. The house traces its origins to 1827, when an engraving workshop was founded at 37 Quai de l'Horloge by a certain Durant. Over the following decades the workshop changed names and partners — Durant and Monnehay (1852–1863), then Monnehay alone until 1899 — before the Canale family took over and gave the house its enduring name. The company has remained at the same historic address on the Île de la Cité, in a building whose two facades face the Seine and the Place Dauphine. The firm specializes in hand-engraved and hand-finished medals, primarily of a religious nature: Christ with Nimbus, Crowned Virgin, Constantinople Christ, and other devotional subjects, as well as commemorative pieces such as the Liberation of Strasbourg. Products are offered in 925 sterling silver and 18k solid gold, with options for adding a chain or custom engraving. Each medal is presented in a white case with a free gift box and shipped internationally, notably via FedEx. Prices on the official site range from around €74 for a silver commemorative medal to several thousand euros for large gold pendants. V. Canale positions itself as a heritage maison de médaille, emphasizing its nearly two-century continuity, Parisian craftsmanship, and the artistic tradition of French medal engraving. The company's website also hosts historical and technical essays on the medal as an art form, referencing engravers such as Jules-Clément Chaplain and Hubert Ponscarme, which reinforces its cultural positioning. While the brand is not a mass-market jewelry label, it serves a niche of collectors, religious institutions, and individual buyers seeking traditional, made-in-Paris devotional objects. The business remains privately held and family-associated, with no public listing.

The history of V. Canale begins in 1827 at 37 Quai de l'Horloge in Paris, where a workshop was founded by Durant to carry out all types of engraving: numbers on gilded works, rings, armours, and other objects. The building itself, at the corner of the Quai de l'Horloge and Place Dauphine, had been rebuilt in 1780 on older supporting walls and had previously housed the master engraver Philipon, whose daughter Manon Roland was born there in 1754 and later became a notable figure of the French Revolution. In 1852 Durant created a partnership, and from 1852 to 1863 the company operated as Durant and Monnehay. From 1863 to 1899 it was known as Monnehay. At the end of the 19th century the Canale family took over the workshop, and the house became known as V. Canale or Maison Canale. Under the Canale name, the firm continued the tradition of medal engraving and expanded into religious and commemorative medals, which remain its core output. The workshop has remained at the same address on the Île de la Cité for nearly two centuries. Its premises, with facades on the Seine and on the Place Dauphine, have been featured in French media, including a segment on France 3's program "Paname." The company's website presents the house as a living continuation of the French medal-making tradition, publishing historical and technical texts on the art of the medal, including works on Jules-Clément Chaplain and Hubert Ponscarme. In the 21st century, V. Canale has maintained its artisanal production while developing an international e-commerce presence through its website, en.medaillescanale.com. The site offers medals in 925 sterling silver and 18k gold, with options for engraving and chains, and ships worldwide via FedEx. The product range includes both traditional religious subjects — Christ with Nimbus, Crowned Virgin, Constantinople Christ — and historical commemorative pieces such as the Liberation of Strasbourg medal. The house emphasizes that each piece is handmade in Paris, France, since 1827.

• 2020

  Wikidata entry Q109939821 created for V. Canale.

• 1899

  Canale family takes over the workshop; house becomes V. Canale / Maison Canale.

• 1863

  Company continues as Monnehay until 1899.

• 1852

  Partnership formed; company operates as Durant and Monnehay until 1863.

• 1827

  Durant founds an engraving workshop at 37 Quai de l'Horloge, Paris.

Heritage Parisian medal maker since 1827, specializing in hand-engraved religious and commemorative medals in precious metals.

• Christ with Nimbus 3

  925 sterling silver medal necklace, diameter 21x23 mm, natural satin finish, handmade in Paris since 1827.

• Crowned Virgin 1

  18k solid gold pendant necklace, diameter 16, 18, or 20 mm, natural satin finish.

• Constantinople Christ 1

  18k solid yellow gold medal pendant, diameter 20 mm, natural satin finish.

• Bunch of ear of wheat 2

  18k gold medallion pendant, diameter 15, 19, or 21 mm, natural satin finish.

• Liberation of Strasbourg

  Commemorative medal depicting the liberation of Strasbourg on 22 November 1918.

• The sleep of the angel

  925 sterling silver medal necklace, diameter 18 mm, natural satin finish.

1. 1Medailles Canale : Manufacturer of Medal in Paris since 1827en.medaillescanale.com
2. 2Story of House Canaleen.medaillescanale.com
3. 3Story & technique of the medalen.medaillescanale.com
4. 4V. Canale - Wikidatawikidata.org