Jewelry: houses in search of their heritage

Two years ago, some people discovered in the media, this announcement in the form of treasure hunts: “Fred is looking for Fred. ». From France to Great Britain, from the United States to Japan, via Dubai, the house had embarked on an almost romantic investigation, with a view to a retrospective to be discovered this fall at the Palais de Tokyo. Jewelers like Cartier and Bvlgari also readily use wanted notices.

Fred’s ambition: to go back in time, in search of the unique pieces that have shaped its history since 1936. In a few months, the email address specially dedicated to this jewelry quest has received more than a hundred photographs of jewelry and testimonials from all walks of life.

“People have thus rediscovered family jewels. They were delighted to share them and lend them for the exhibition, which brings together 450 at the Palais de Tokyo. It was very moving “, explains Valérie Samuel, granddaughter of Fred Samuel, the brand’s founder. In 2017, when she took over the vice-presidency of the house, the heritage issue then became a priority. “We thought we didn’t have much but, one thing led to another, we gathered material. We also discovered the existence of an archive warehouse representing ten tons of documents including 1,000 boxes, with nearly 7,000 drawings and as many photographs allowing us to retrace the history of our creations. »

Legacy to value

Promoting the brand’s heritage is now the ambition of many jewelers. Witness the proliferation of successful exhibitions mounted in recent years, Van Cleef & Arpels at the Jardin des Plantes, Cartier at the Arts Déco, Tiffany at the Saatchi Gallery in London, the latest, initiated by Chaumet at the Fine Arts, having exceeded the 43,000 visitors. From centuries-old brands – like Mellerio, Chaumet – to Cartier, Boucheron and Van Cleef, all have extraordinary archives made up of account, customer, workshop and stock books recording all activity, as well as photographs, catalogs and advertisements.

To study and develop this precious material, a policy of acquiring historical creations, but also contemporary ones, is essential, in order to constitute a private collection. This is confirmed by Jean-Bernard Forot, in charge of the heritage of the Swiss manufacturer Piaget, which will celebrate its centenary in 2024. “Most houses have long had an approach to heritage that is more empirical than strategic. The Piaget family began buying back its first pieces in 1988 when it was preparing to pass on its history. [En étant rachetée par Cartier, qui entre ensuite dans le groupe Richemont, NDLR]. The house’s private collection now includes around a hundred watches and 250 pieces of jewellery. In an increasingly virtual world that moves a lot, heritage recreates credibility. Hence this desire to expose it. »

Facilitated by new technologies, the hunt for jewelry varies according to budgets. “The vintage market, especially when it bears a renowned signature, has taken off in recent years. Some jewels are therefore sometimes more the responsibility of a wealthy collector than of a family house like ours.specifies Laure-Isabelle Mellerio, of the house of the same name. I am thinking of this magnificent example of the peacock egret of the Maharajah of Kapurthala, which sold for $750,000 in a pretty competitive auction in June 2019.

Highly confidential, information related to parts in private hands is the prerogative of a very small number. The curators of the houses are often part of it and, once trust has been established, can borrow the jewel for the duration of an exhibition. And sometimes even acquire it, like this Empress Eugénie brooch that entered the Chaumet heritage collection because of inheritance tax to be paid.

The acquisition policy is sometimes extremely ambitious, like the Van Cleef & Arpels and Cartier collections begun in a visionary way in the 1970s and which today include 2,200 and 3,000 pieces. “It is not a question of acquiring everything, but of having a fair and balanced vision of our history” , notes Lise Macdonald, director of Van Cleef & Arpels Heritage, which has fifteen people. Fine sleuths, the heritage departments sometimes have good surprises.

Like this spectacular collarette of Queen Nazli of Egypt from 1939, which reappeared on the market when everyone thought it had disappeared. Bought by Van Cleef, it is one of the centerpieces of the exhibition on diamonds on display until January at the Heritage Gallery at 20, place Vendôme. Joining the Richemont group in the year of its centenary, in 2019, the Lombard jeweler Buccellati has also undertaken major acquisition work. “Finding really beautiful pieces becomes difficult. Collectors represent 65% of our acquisitions. We buy an average of 50 pieces a year,” says Luca Buccellati, of the third generation.

Mapping work

Begun in 2018 at Chanel under the name “Finding Chanel Heritage”, the house’s proactive heritage approach was based on an observation at the time: the market was drying up with a shortage of pieces offered for sale. “Unlike other houses, Gabrielle Chanel did not at all worry about archiving her documents. We therefore had very little information on the customers who had purchased parts, in particular jewellery. Our main documentary resource is the press of the time. Thanks to her, we identified 1,000 names of fashion clients. From this register, we searched for their descendants, calling on a genealogist for the most complex cases,” details the heritage management of Chanel Joaillerie.

Thanks to this mapping work, the service then contacted 44 people. “These are very personalized letters in which we explain that such a person, for example a great-grandmother or a great-aunt, was photographed in such a year wearing such jewelery in such a magazine. We attach the document of the time with the mention published in the press. We have had a lot of feedback from people very touched by the process. »

Among them, the granddaughter of Lady Abdy, this former Chanel model left to live across the Atlantic. The descender notably has a brooch doubly identified in the Harper’s Bazaar from 1936 and in The Pleasure of France of 1934. “Sending us this brooch was a way for her to perpetuate the memory of her grandmother. »

The Fred retrospective at the Palais de Tokyo will also allow visitors to admire a spectacular yellow diamond of more than 100 carats, the Golden Sun. Purchased by Henri Samuel in 1977, it reappeared in 2021 during heritage research by the house, which hastened to buy it back.

“Fred jeweler designer since 1936”, at the Palais de Tokyo. Until October 24. palaisdetokyo.com