Chaumet : creations for leading women!

PRODUCED BY KYRA BRENZINGER, editor-in-chief

Great specialist in tiaras, the house Chaumet has built a unique story with Joséphine de Beauharnais who remains the eternal muse of the brand. Let's discover the iconic pieces that make today's iconic women dream.

The famous founder Nitot from father to son

Marie-Etienne Nitot is a true creative genius of the future house Chaumet since he founded his workshop in his name in 1780 in Paris. A few years later, he had the honor of setting the famous 136-carat Regent diamond (today in the Louvre) on the coronation sword of Napoleon I. François-Regnault Nitot joins his father on business and meets the Empress Joséphine who orders numerous jewels from him. They officially became the jewelers of the imperial court and official suppliers to the empress. Joséphine. An extremely modern woman for her time, the Empress lived in her Malmaison castle, surrounding herself with the best botanists. They create for her her garden covered with roses or hydrangeas in delicate colors that Joséphine also appreciates transformed into precious jewels by the jeweler.

The bee as an imperial emblem: Bee my Love

Even if the Bee my love collection is contemporary (2011), the bee emblem dates from the kings of France and is taken from the Napoleonic era. Symbol of sovereigns since the Merovingians, the bee was chosen by Emperor Napoleon I to adorn the purple mantle of his coronation. Evoking immortality and resurrection, bees were selected to link the new dynasty to the origins of France. Subsequently, this symbol adorns many jewelry such as these pairs of clip brooches or rings Bee my Love of contemporary creations in the shape of a honeycomb. To bring even more glamour, the house Chaumet created in autumn 2021 a diamond cut with 88 facets in the shape of a honeycomb called the Impératrice cut adorning the creations Bee my Love.

Jewelry of feelings: acrostic collections and Liens

The unconditional love between Napoleon Bonaparte and Joséphine de Beauharnais is an inexhaustible inspiration for the home Chaumet. Today, she reinterprets the acrostic jewel, commissioned by Bonaparte for Joséphine. Made up of colored stones, the jewel contains a message to discover. Thus, the amethyst forms the letter “A” and the morganite the “m” gradually creating the word “Love”. Another symbolic jewel, the Lien is a collection, created in the 70s, but which draws its inspiration from the passionate attachment of the imperial couple. It has become one of the house's great best sellers, reinterpreted as a multi-row necklace or simple ring to evoke our sincere attachment to a loved one.

The installation at Place Vendôme 

Thanks to prestigious commissions, François-Regnault Nitot decided to settle at Place Vendôme in 1812, shortly after the death of his father. He is the first jeweler to set up on this square at number 15 (today occupied by the famous Ritz hotel). He creates jewelry adorned with diamonds playing on the nuances of precious stones such as splendid blue or orange sapphires. Until the fall of the Empire, he continued his activity and then handed over his business to his workshop manager, Jean-Baptiste Foissin. As in the Nitot family, son Jules Foissin joins his father and forms a pair recognized for their romantic style creations featuring flora transformed into head jewelry or delicate trembling brooches.

Family Chaumet takes the reins by setting up a boutique on Place Vendôme

The jeweler Prosper Morel took over the workshop in 1862 and his daughter married Joseph Chaumet who took over the management of the company in 1885. He decided to set up the workshop and above all a shop at 12, place Vendôme, the current headquarters of the house. A true visionary, he developed numerous patents and advanced the study of gemology. Concerning creations, he launched egrets, an alternative to tiaras in a lighter version, which became an emblematic style of the house. Moreover, the jewelry version of bird wings is one of her favorite themes to create artistic brooches to wear on either side of a neckline or on the shoulders. He explores all the themes of fauna and flora, still poetically evoked today with the “Catche-moi” collection.

L'Art Deco, a new era

The period between the wars laid all styles flat to create a new vision between cubism and futurism. It's Marcel Chaumet who takes over from his father and who adapts the style Art Deco with graphic elements by creating headbands with geometric stone cuts. Women with a flapper look want unique jewelry like lasso necklaces to wear with a back neckline. The colors are more sober in black & white displaying the contrasts of onyx and diamond. Exotic inspirations bring touches of ebony, mother-of-pearl or coral, inviting you to a true jewelry journey. 

From the 1950s to the takeover by the LVMH group

Marcel's two sons Chaumet, Jacques and Pierre wish to bring new impetus to the company by reaching a wider audience and by offering a watch collection. In the 70s, they called on the designer Pierre Sterlé which reinterprets the favorite themes of fauna and flora with inimitable slender lines. Brothers Chaumet launch the line Liens which became an emblematic collection of the brand, today reinterpreted in colored stones with the model Liens Harmony. Bad managers, particularly in a case of illegal resale of diamonds, they had to resell the company in 1987 to an investment fund from Bahrain before being bought in 1999 by the LVMH group.

The LVMH group gives a new dimension to the brand by creating the collection in 2010 Joséphine in homage to the empress and historical muse of Chaumet. This collection is inspired by the shape of the tiara, notably with modular rings created from different diamond rings, pearls or colored stones. The High Jewelry creations feature exceptional Australian opals as in the Le Grand Frisson collection (2008) or exceptional diamonds in the Déferlante collection from 2022, made up of tiaras. Always returning to the brand's first love, Chaumet exhibits its exceptional history across the world, from Tokyo to Beijing via Monaco. When the history of jewelry meets great history with panache.