What is the link between the engagement parure given to Grace Kelly by Prince Rainier III in 1955 and the Ocean diadem offered for the wedding of Charlene Wittstock by

Prince Albert II of Monaco?  Answer: the prestigious jeweler Van Cleef & Arpels, official supplier of the Principality since 1956. After 115 years of existence, Van Cleef & Arpels is synonymous

with luxury and quality, and deserves intense focus on its history and legendary jewelry. Alfred Van Cleef, Estelle Arpels and their families Everything (...) Read more

Christofle is a French silversmith manufacture founded in 1830 by Charles Christofle.   The latter did not create this business by chance. He hailed from a family of industrialists specialized in working

with precious metals. He thus made his debut at his brother in law’s, Hugues Calmette, a jeweler in province.   All the modernity of Christofle lies in the methods used for gilding

and silvering. He finalized the silvering process by electrolysis before doing away with the artisanal way. This procedure will industrialize silvering (...) Read more

Elegant, refined and slightly detached, the Balmain silhouette still embodies the modern woman. Pierre Balmain created his fashion house in 1944, the workshop was established on Rue Francois Ier in

Paris. The tastefully-selected fabrics and simple forms have attracted many fashion professionals and admirers. Its clientele grew internationally in the 1950s-60s: the Balmain silhouette enchanting elegant ladies during its time.

Brigitte Bardot and Marlene Dietrich were seduced by the geometric cuts and refined materials employed by the fashion designer.   Balmain embodies French (...) Read more

Eileen Gray   Kathleen Eileen Moray Smith, the famous Irish designer, better known under the name of Eileen Gray was born in Enniscorthy in 1878. Eileen Gray completed her studies, first at

the Slade School of Fine Art in London then the Académie Julian and the Académie Colarossi in Paris. While based in Paris, the young woman studied lacquer techniques alongside the

renowned artisan, Seizo Sugarawan  Her first exhibition, at the Salon of Designer Artists had creations made of lacquer and rare woods. (...) Read more

Robert Goossens, founder of the jewelry firm that bears the same name, was born in 1927 in Paris. Son of a caster, his initiation into metalworking was alongside his father.

Over the years, he was trained with prestigious Parisian goldsmiths and jewelers where he learned the art of jewelry in all its forms.   The originality of his work lies in his

mastery of the combination of Baroque costume jewelry and inspirations from Parisian museums and Antiquity. This is also what lured the (...) Read more