L’École, School of Jewellery Arts, is housed within the Van Cleef & Arpels headquarters in Paris

L’École is a school of jewellery arts based in Paris and supported by Van Cleef & Arpels, offering a luxurious learning experience led by industry experts. Digital Editor Millie Walton signs up for a class

Based one floor of Van Cleef & Arpels‘ headquarters in Place Vendôme in Paris, L’École was established in 2012 with the aim of introducing the wider audience to the world of high jewellery and its significance through the ages. Whilst the school was founded and is supported by Van Cleef & Arpels, it is not, as one might assume, an elaborate marketing stunt (during my class, for example, the only mention of Van Cleef & Arpels is via small-print on the slideshow), but rather a genuine centre of learning albeit a luxurious one. Classes take place in a palatial room which was once the office of Van Cleef’s President and CEO Nicolas Bos, with a break for tea, coffee and Parisian pastries in a stylish lounge filled up with glossy coffee table-books, whilst the teachers themselves are leading industry experts, which allows the classes to cater to every ability.

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The classes fall into four main categories: ‘Introductory’ (which offers a general overview), ‘The Universe of Gemstones’ (with two classes exploring diamonds), ‘Savoir Faire’ (featuring hands on workshops in which you get to actually try out various jewellery making techniques such as Japanese Urushi Lacquer) and ‘Art History of Jewellery’ (which investigates jewellery aesthetics of different time periods). On this trip, I’m signed up for an art history class on ‘Gold and Jewellery, from Antiquity to the Renaissance Princes’, which begins with Ancient Egypt and ends with examining portraits of Henry VIII and Elizabeth I.

Classes take place in the original office of Van Cleef’s President and CEO Nicolas Bos

Whilst the prospect of four hour lecture on jewellery is daunting, our teachers Inezita Gay-Eckel and Léonard Pouy are energetic and brilliantly knowledgable with infectious enthusiasm for their subject matter. The class itself mainly follows a standard lecture format, but we are encouraged to jump in with questions, and specialist terms are noted down on the whiteboard for us to copy into our L’École branded notebooks.

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Halfway through, Léonard appears, gloved and bearing a tray of delicate jewellery pieces. We’re encouraged to apply our new found knowledge to locate each piece to its time period, and whilst it’s still largely mystifying, it’s satisfying to even know what kinds of things we should be noticing.

The point of these classes, Inezita tells us, to provoke curiosity so that students feel compelled to take their learning further. At the end of the class, we’re each given a tote bag with a certificate and reading list of books, websites and museums across the globe.

Find out more: lecolevancleefarpels.com

The Cleopatra alexandrite and diamond set by Hirsh

Founded in 1980 by Anthony and Diane Hirsh, luxury jewellery brand Hirsh is now under the creative direction of Jason Hirsh with his wife Sophia as Managing Director. Here, Chloe Frost-Smith speaks to the second generation Creative Director about designing, selecting gemstones, and the relationship between art and jewellery

Jason Hirsh

1. Is it true that you designed your first piece of jewellery when you were 10, and if so, what was it?

Yes it is, I used to sit in my father’s office, looking for things to do. My father used to have me draw the jewellery on stock cards (before digital cameras and film was too expensive). I loved the colour gems more than diamonds and drew out a suite of jewellery (necklace, earrings, bracelet and ring) using a pattern of emerald, ruby, sapphire, diamond set in 18k gold, very 80s! My father humoured me and made it. In those days Hirsh, used to manufacture jewellery for other retailers, our first store was still 2 years away, so he took the suite to the Dallas Jewellery show. I went with him and my mother and the suite sold on the first day. It was purchased by a prominent jewellery chain in the U.S. that had 16 stores at the time, so my father needed to make a few more! My father paid me $1 commission which I spent on a coca cola and cracker jacks (American popcorn), let’s just say my taste and remuneration has changed somewhat.

Inside the Hirsh London atelier

2. What is the inspiration behind your new Autumn/Winter collection?

I’ve always been inspired by nature and the beauty of the different colours found in nature – be it in gemstones or in the changing of the seasons. My father also shared this love of nature and began a tradition of designing a unique snowflake pendant every winter. This is a tradition that Sophia and I have continued and really look forward to every year. As the Hirsh 40th anniversary is soon approaching, we decided to create three beautiful snowflake pendants this year; an emerald, sapphire and a ruby piece. Just like snowflakes found in nature, each snowflake we design is completely one-of-a-kind and very special. Our new spring 2020 collection also takes inspiration in nature and features natural colour diamonds – definitely one to look out for.

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3. Which gemstones are you drawn to work with in particular and why?

I am drawn to work with anything unusual, I try and seek out gems that are hard to find other examples of, be it the rarity of colour or the combination of shape and colour. It is especially why I like round natural colour diamonds such as the 7-carat round, colour changing chameleon diamond I parted with last year. With the amount of rough you lose, natural colour diamonds are rarely cut in round which is what makes them all the more special when they are. In colour gemstones, my favourites are those with an emerald cut. The reason for this is that, emerald cut gemstones leave no place to hide inclusions in the gemstone. However, my personal favourite gemstones of all are Alexandrites and sapphires, mainly for the colour change in the Alexandrite and the range of colours found in sapphires. My wife Sophia has an amazing bi-colour sapphire (half yellow, half blue) that I thankfully get to see on her every day. We also have an amazing selection of Alexandrite jewellery at Hirsh that I’m very proud of.

The snowflake pendant set with pink and blue diamonds

4. How would you describe the relationship between jewellery and art?

Well, art is subjective and whilst in the past artists like Seurat would spend four years on a painting, some artists today create art in a day, in some cases multiple pieces in factories. You can find the same thing in the world of jewellery. There are many jewellers who mass produce their craft either to satisfy their clientele who want the same pieces, or to fill their many stores. At Hirsh, we individually produce each piece by hand so we consider everything we create to be a piece of wearable art. In addition, the vast majority of our pieces are the result of a collaboration with several artists, from my creative direction  through to the design team who draw and refine each piece and then on to the mounters who turn our dreams into reality, and finally, the setters, who refine the claws on each stone.

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5. Do you ever consider trends when designing your pieces?

Whilst remaining quite timeless in style (the majority of our jewellery is made to be worn season after season), I always feel like we are right on the pulse. When we were creating our “Cloud” collection, 9 months after the initial design, I was walking down Bond Street and saw Anya Hindmarch’s window displaying her latest bag collection featuring clouds which made me smile. Three or four months later, Hermès launched new windows with cloud bags and a cloud theme. The difference is that, unlike high fashion and just like London’s ubiquitous rain clouds, our collection is set to stay.

Ruby and diamond trio, ice and duet ring

6. Which piece of iconic jewellery from past or present do you wish you had designed?

I have a lot of respect and admiration for Andrew Grima– a British jewellery designer based in Mayfair during the 1960’s and 1970’s. I feel he truly transformed the world of jewellery at that time, by creating intricately designed pieces of jewellery using textured gold and unique stones. My wife and I love watermelon tourmalines so I specifically love and would have loved to design his ‘gift’ ring featuring a beautiful watermelon tourmaline and a gold bow. I really enjoy his use of colour and texture in his creations and find is work highly skilled yet playful which is something we always aspire to in the creation of our jewellery at Hirsh.

To view the brand’s collections visit: hirshlondon.com

A range of glasses crafted by Moser

Moser glassworks was founded in 1857 in the tiny quaint town of Karlovy Vary, just outside of Prague, and is now one of the world’s best-known luxury artisanal glassware brands. Kitty Harris travelled to the glass workshop to speak to Moser’s Art Director, Lukáš Jabůrek about inspirations, collaborations and meeting the demands of diverse luxury markets on the brand’s 160th anniversary year.

Lukáš Jabůrek, Moser’s Art Director

Kitty Harris: What is your background? How did you start?
Lukáš Jabůrek: I studied the cutting and design of glass at a school in Nový Bor. I later worked as a glass cutter in various glass factories in France, The Netherlands and Ireland for some years. I then worked as a teacher in a glass school and later, I came to Moser as an artist, designer and technologist.

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KH: Why did you choose glass cutting? Was it a tradition within your family?
LJ: During my childhood, I always enjoyed painting and architecture, so I decided to attend art school. During my time there, I became involved in glass cutting and I found it inspiring. It is so diverse, as it can be used to make sculptures and decorations, amongst many other things.

KH: What is the best thing about your job?
LJ: Cutting! Every day is different and I always have new ideas and designs. I find the process of cutting glass here in the studio very relaxing.

KH: Where do you draw inspiration from?
LJ: From architecture, nature and life in general. I take inspiration from everything around me.

KH: How do you encourage younger generations? It is a very specialised practice and not many young people may know about it or are interested…
LJ: It is very difficult because many young people don’t know about glass cutting or necessarily want to work with it. Physically, it is very difficult work. With oven temperatures reaching 1400 degrees the manual work is exhausting. If the temperature outside is above 30 degrees we do not allow the glassblowers to work as is it too hot in the factory. As the day goes on, the ovens cool down, to 700 degrees and at this temperature we can make larger pieces of glass – though this is even more demanding work.

Glass blowing at the Moser workshop

In order to deal with this, we partner with schools and students. I search for talent and I invite students to do internships at the studio. Now they only have three or four students per year so it is very small selection to choose from. They train for three years at glass making school and many drop out. But here in the glass factory, we have two student departments and a glass school. This year we will have the very first female glassblower to work at Moser glassworks. We rely a lot on tradition, the craft being passed down generation to generation. Recently, our master glass blower, who has worked at Moser for 60 years, retired and his son is now the manager of the glassblowing workshop.

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KH: What makes Moser special?
LJ: It is the combination and range of colours compared to all the glass factories in the world which have a large but basic colour ranges. And of course, it is a 100% handmade production, with cutting, engraving and painting all done by hand. Visitors are invited to the Moser Museum and some guided tours are available around the site, though the work rooms are closed to the public as the workers need a quiet environment to concentrate in as one wrong 1mm line of engraving can mean a piece (that has gone through 20 other hands before it arrived) is thrown away. Once a year we do an open door day where we run competitions and invite locals and families to spend the day at the factory.

Glass art engravings in the Moser workshop

KH: Why is it a luxury?
LJ: Because it is a special design from the best designers. The colour range is very unique. With regards to production, we have the best cutters and engravers. We maintain very high quality, because we get rid of 70% of the glass at the first innining – these might have bubbles, dust or imperfections. One vase may take one hour, and ten vases go to the next worker in the production chain but this ten may yield only two pieces. So, you must make many pieces for selection.

A piece must be ordered 3 months in advance. Unlike fast paced production lines, seen in other luxury brands, that produce replicated items, each Moser glassworks piece is unique. If an order requires engraving, this can take much longer than three months, bearing in mind to paint one piece can take a whole month.

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KH: How does the company stay contemporary?
LJ: We say that we collect traditional, historic and contemporary design. We keep a specific face of Moser glassworks, but we also collaborate with other designers, artists and architects. We look for new contemporary trends and styles.

KH: The 160th anniversary collection was the biggest you’ve ever made. What different inspiration went into that collection?
LJ: The inspiration for this collection was the history of Moser glassworks as a company. We selected seven periods of time from the last 160 years to represent different eras. Every part has a few pieces from these periods, including historical motifs, engraved art nouveau plant decorations and gilded African scenes.

KH: You have to cater to different luxury markets, how do they compare?
LJ: For certain countries we have special collections, for Taiwan we do a selection of hand engraved animals on colour glass vases. In terms of platinum or gold painted detail, the USA prefer Platinum whilst the EU prefers Gold; this is why Queen Elizabeth’s Splendid Collection is painted in 24kt gold paint.

KH: You have partnerships with some big luxury brands, including Asprey, David Linley and William & Son. Which are the most successful and why?
LJ: They are successful because it is the merging of two different worlds that still have the same traditions of quality and philosophy. We are very like-minded.

Kitty Harris: How does your design approach differ for each brand?
Lukáš Jabůrek: I look at history, for example history of Great Britain and the culture. I look at these symbols for specific inspiration.

Stem forming using a wooden mould in the Moser glassworks factory

KH: Can you draw a distinction between Moser as a product and Moser as an art?
LJ: There is a very small difference, because Moser does not carry out mass machine production. It is careful art production and every piece is unique and original. In our glass factory, every piece is really specific. The construction of every piece is unique. Whilst drink sets have more classic production, our decorative objects are made differently as artistic pieces.

KH: What’s next for Moser glassworks?
LJ: I would like to maintain exceptional standards. But, I would like to introduce fresh designs whilst keeping the history firmly in the design. We would also like to develop a presence in interior design for hotels, restaurants and resorts. For example, developing lamps and chandeliers. It is always evolving at Moser.

moser-glass.com