Chaumet exhibition celebrates the golden age of jewellery design in Paris

To step into the Chaumet exhibition, ‘Un Âge d’Or’, in Paris is to step back in time, into an era where avant-garde design entered the jewellery mainstream. Held in Chaumet’s home on the Place Vendôme, the exhibition, curated by Vanessa Cron, celebrates designs from the period 1965 – 1985, with jewellery from the brand joining exquisite objets d’art.

Furniture by Pierre Paulin, tapestries by Victor Vasarely, a ‘Togo’ sofa designed by Michel Ducaroy with Floraly fabric, a Gavrinis rug, fashion by Dior and Paco Rabanne and lithographs by Andy Warhol set the scene for the jewellery, which was in its most experimental era. In a direction spearheaded by René Morin, who joined Chaumet in 1962, and later by Pierre Sterlé, who joined the maison in 1976, jewellery became playful. 

Flora and fauna, delicately drawn in precious materials, made for unexpected motifs alongside musical instruments, birds of paradise caught in flight and unicorns carved from blocks of lapis lazuli. Morin’s unique vision can be admired in his exceptional series of Baccarat crystal blocks, which he translated into his ‘Bestiaire Fabuleux’ series, comprising 37 animals brought to life in textured gold and crystal – some of which are able to view at the show.

Previously unseen pieces have been called in from around the globe, including from the collections of Annick Morin (wife of the late René Morin), the Mobilier National, Ligne Roset, the Musée de la Chasse et de la Nature, the houses of Baccarat, Dior and Rabanne, and the Mahnaz New York, Kimberly Klosterman and Faerber collections. They come to life against a backdrop of advertisements of the time, which placed the model as the powerful centre of the image, facing the camera and adorned with offbeat jewels.

It was a change of direction encapsulated in the opening of Chaumet’s boutique next to its home at 12 Place Vendôme in 1970. Bernard Cognard was at the helm of L’Arcade, a clean modernist space that made a natural home for the more avant-garde designs that were being produced. Traditional techniques were rethought, with gold reworked into brutalist, rougher forms in an elegant alternating of matte and rough surfaces, or forms so polished they become mirror-like in their brilliance. In other pieces, a bronze panther clutching a mother-of-pearl flower in its mouth takes on a rich patina, while a military trophy in coral, carnelian and malachite, with gold and diamonds, celebrates the introduction of bold new colours.

‘Chaumet Un Âge d’Or’ is at 12 Place Vendôme, Paris 1er. It is open to the public from Thursday 5 October to Sunday 5 November 2023, 11am to 7pm, Tuesday to Saturday inclusive, reservation required: www.chaumet.com/fr_en/golden-age