Fiat Lux is Not Your Average Piercing Spot

Lavish design and dazzling jewelry await at a new shop on Fillmore

Getting a piercing, one might expect darker interiors, but that’s not the case with Fiat Lux, the newest addition to Fillmore Street’s vibrant selection of shops. Open for a couple of months, the space - part jewelry store, part piercing parlor - bursts with colors and patterns. Cobalt blue and flower prints, stripes and interesting floor elements welcome those who want to purchase a new ring, walk away with a pierced septum, or commit to a fused bracelet - that would be a “forever” bracelet that the team at Fiat Lux seals around your wrist. 

This is McCarthy’s third business in San Francisco, joining the tattoo shop Rose Gold's Tattoo & Piercing and the first Fiat Lux location in the Mission. The look and feel of the new location is different, however, very much a rebellious reaction to current design trends. “I think you don't see as much of that as we need in our public and private spaces; every new shop we see these days is luxe desert, white walls, succulents, you know,” McCarthy says. Decidedly un-minimalist, Fiat Lux, designed by Noz Nozawa and Caroline Lizarraga of Noz Design, is instead inspired by “exuberance, whether it's in the punk rock black metal version at Mission or the wild atmospheric fizzy colors at Fillmore.” On the floor, a long painted snake offert the perfect shoe pic opportunity. “Modern chinoiserie, gold drips, jaguar handles, what more do you need?” says McCarthy. 

The store carries a dazzling variety of designer jewelry from brands like Anastassia Sel, Rusty Thought and La Libertad, in addition to the eponymous line McCarthy designs herself. “It's very important to me that the pieces are handmade and the designer has a clear vision of what they are trying to communicate,” says McCarthy about the curation process. “I like things that are smart, funny, meaningful and historically referenced. I'm interested in the less traveled path, focusing on things like the cosmos or talismans.” 

McCarthy moved to San Francisco from St. Louis, via Japan and Chicago, in 1998. In 2002 she opened Rose’s Gold. “I wrote my college thesis on the patron arts, and I've been making jewelry in one form or another for twenty five years,” she says. . “Adornment has been my thing for a long time.”  Whether you’re looking to be adorned - forever or just for a night - or even to take gorgeous selfies with decadent backdrops, Fiat Lux has you covered.