Jewelry Designs: A Century of Jewelry Creation

Dive into the jewelry creation process: until July 20, the Petit Palais in Paris is opening its collection reserves to highlight its collection of designs and present sometimes forgotten names, whether artists or jewelry houses, and the great names of jewelry. With a focus on the period Art Nouveau And Art Deco, This exhibition is a beautiful tribute to drawing, "as much a working document as a work of art" and to these key periods that are Art Nouveau andArt Deco, from the second half of the 19th to the middle of the 20th century.

The place of drawing in the process of creating a jewel

The Jewelry Designs exhibition at the Petit Palais (Paris, from April to July 2025) gives jewelry design its place, a step  important part of the creative process for large maison of jewelry. It could have simply been an inventory tool but, especially in this exhibition, the stage for bringing ideas, such as Lalique was able to do it in its early days for Mellerio Or Boucheron. Thus, little by little, the drawing workshop became specialized and integrated into the major houses. The drawing thus made it possible to propose a jewel whose feasibility according to the drawing will be studied: we are shown some evolutions between the drawing and the final jewel during the exhibition.

For this reason, the drawing is always on a scale of 1, with a strict vocabulary and rules: light from left to right, allowing the rendering of volumes. Some examples are shown with annotations and details of textures or materials, bringing the creation of the jewel to life before our eyes.

From the sketch through to the more precise finalization before the research of colors and materials, this exhibition also offers numerous gouaches, the model in color, using different techniques (gouache, wash, watercolor, etc.), as well as different papers for different renderings: colored background to bring out the diamonds, layers to play on the superpositions and their transparency.  The technicality required and the beauty of the rendering of the gouaches, the light effect, the rendering of gems and metals, make them pieces of art in their own right.

Designers and houses exhibited in Jewelry Designs

The exhibition highlights often overlooked or forgotten names, benefiting the brands themselves. Our era and the numerous exhibitions of major brands highlighting their expertise serve as a reminder of their creative and technical contributions.

Pierre-Georges Deraisme, designer, goldsmith and chaser, joined the workshop of Lalique (gold medal at the 1900 World's Fair) at the beginning and then opened his own business in 1908. After the classical influences of the previous era, he deployed all his talent as a naturalist and then to the graphic forms heralding theArt Deco.

Charles Jacqueau, talented designer, joins Cartier in 1909 and was spotted by Louis Cartier, who maintains a special relationship with his designers. A solid collaboration ensued and Jacqueau remained with Cartier long after Louis's death, until the 1950s. Travel, as well as museums and libraries, were important sources of inspiration, initiated by Louis Cartier who loved to stimulate the intellectual curiosity of his designers.

The Fannière brothers, goldsmiths and chasers who made a name for themselves in the second half of the 19th century, worked for the biggest brands, such as Christofle and Froment Meurice, and then for their own account.

Eugène Grasset was a major influence during the Art Nouveau period and Vever chose him for a jewelry collection at the 1900 World's Fair.

The big names in the Jewelry Designs exhibition

With these talented designers, we are also reminded of emblematic houses of this period through these drawings and sometimes magnificent period creations.

Vever: founded in 1921, the Maison is a pioneer and emblematic of Art Nouveau. Important figures such as Lalique, Fouquet and Grasset worked for her. It closed in 1982 before the 7th^e Vever generation reopens it in 2021.

Cartier : The collaboration with Charles Jacqueau  is illustrated by drawings and pieces of great beauty during the exhibition. The influences of Islamic and Eastern art, representations of panthers are among the striking drawings presented.

Boucheron : This exhibition is thesecond-hand to see drawings and the perfect technique of the maison Boucheron, metalwork and the play of light through the widely used openwork.

Sources of inspiration for the jewelry in the Jewelry Design exhibition

The exhibition shows the archives that served as inspiration for the various creators:

Nature: in the Art Nouveau movement, naturalist observation is palpable, resulting in magnificent stylizations

Collections of ornaments: knot patterns, arabesques, of which we can see examples of compilations and collections, illustrate the “grammar” to which the creators devote themselves.

World arts: art from Islam, China, and Japan, and from history: Egypt and Greece. The motifs, architecture, and prints are inspirations that illustrate the era's enthusiasm for these themes.

On the same topic, you might also like to read:

The essentials of the Art Nouveau period
The essentials of the period Art Deco
Vever, exhibition of imaginative stories since 1821