bijou

[ bee-zhoo, bee-zhoo ]

/ ˈbi ʒu, biˈʒu /

a jewel.

something small, delicate, and exquisitely wrought.

Origin of bijou

1660–70; < French < Breton bizou (jeweled) ring, derivative of biz finger; cognate with Cornish bisou finger-ring, derivative of bis finger

Her inner circle of friends included Paris and Nicky Hilton, Bijou Phillips and Lindsay Lohan.

Death of an Heiress |Peter Davis |January 5, 2010 |DAILY BEAST
We let him talk on, without troubling ourselves to inquire what this bijou was.

Memoirs of the Empress Catherine II. |Catherine II, Empress of Russia
For running up and down stairs at the bijou Ayala had been proverbial.

Ayala's Angel |Anthony Trollope
We looked in last night at that classic abode, and found them all hard at it in the Bijou Theatre.

Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 108, February 9, 1895 |Various

A caricature was really due to him, he thought; otherwise why had he abandoned his bijou dwelling?

The Short Works of George Meredith |George Meredith
Then, too, Bijou would never love him well enough to accept him with his extremely moderate income.

Bijou |Gyp

bijou

/ (ˈbiːʒuː) /

something small and delicately worked, such as a trinket

(modifier) often ironic small but elegant and tasteful a bijou residence

C19: from French, from Breton bizou finger ring, from biz finger; compare Welsh bys finger, Cornish bis