Monsieur Bijou was the moniker given to Robert Goosens, a French jeweller who lived from 1927 to 2016. He was born in Paris, France, the son of a metal foundry worker. He learned the techniques of casting, engraving, and embossing semi-precious and simulated stones into gold and silver metals during his apprenticeship in jewellery making. Read More →
With more than 80 stunning photographs, Masterpieces of French Jewelry offers a fascinating look at the most remarkable pieces that found their way into prominent American collections. Like all art, this delightful array of jewelry mirrors the evolving culture of its time. Chapters in this book explore jewelry of the Victorian Era and the Art Nouveau period of the early twentieth century; Art Deco; 1940s retro; up through the 1960s and more contemporary styles.Read More →
Maubossin is a jewellery company in France. The original company was established in 1827 in Paris, on Rue Grenata, where it manufactured jewellery. Starting in 1903, M.B. Noury was the owner and nephew of Georges Maubossin, who had been the director of the company since 1877. Mauboussin succeeded Noury in 1923, changing the firm’s name to Maubossin. At the intersection of rue Saint-Augustin, rue de Choiseul, and rue Monsigny in Paris, at address 3 rue de Choseul, he bought two connecting houses.Read More →
Edward Spenser (1872 – 1938) was a British metalworker, silversmith, and jeweller. He was professionally active in London. Spencer was a junior designer at the Artificers’ Guild. When Montague Fordham took over the Guild in 1903, Spenser became chief designer. Read More →
Florence Koehler was an American artist, craftsperson, designer, and jeweller, professionally active in Chicago, London and Rome. She was one of the best-known jewellers of the Arts and Crafts movement that flourished in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In Chicago, Koehler’s jewellery in a crafts style was fashionable in artistic circles. Koehler became one of the American crafts-revival leaders in jewellery, related more to French than English styles.Read More →
Lucien Falize (1838- 1897) was French goldsmith and jeweller. He was active in Paris and son of Alexis Falize, father of Andre Falize. When his father retired in 1876, Lucien assumed directorship of the family business. He attempted to expand the business by showing at 1878 Paris ‘Exposition Universelle’ and becoming partners with Germain Bapst. In 1892, the partnership was dissolved. Read More →
Van Cleef et Arpels is a French Jeweller located in Paris. Brothers Julien, Louis, and Charles Arpels and brother-in-law Alfred Van Cleef transformed a small store on place Vendôme, Paris in 1904 or 1906 into Van Cleef et Arpels.Read More →
Georg Jensen was a Danish metalworker. He was born in Faavad. He was apprenticed as a goldsmith. cl895-1901, he studied sculpture, Det Kongelige Danske Kunstakademi, Copenhagen. Read More →
Louis Rault (1847 – 1903) was a French Sculptor, engraver, silversmith and jewellery designer.Between 1868 and 1875, Rault worked in the Boucheron workshop on the Place Vendôme in Paris. At the end of the nineteenth century, he set up a workshop where he produced silver and jewellery in the Art Nouveau style.Read More →
Maison Gripoix, a French costume jeweller, was located in Paris. Around 1890, Maison Gripoix sold glass beads and buttons wholesale. Subsequently, specialised in handmade imitations of precious and semi-precious jewels, including parures for Sarah Bernhardt. When the molten glass is poured into a mould, rather than through the kiln-firing ofRead More →
Suzanne Belporren was a French jewellery designer. Her career flourished in the 1920s and 1930s. Belperron produced numerous designs of sculptured jewellery for René Boivin’s Paris shop. She subsequently opened her own Paris shop called Herz-Belperron. Her designs often featured glass encrusted with gemstones.Read More →
Carlo Guiliano was an Italian jeweller and goldsmith who was born in Naples and worked in London. In 1860, Guiliano settled in London and worked for Harry Emanuel. He collaborated with Castellani Italian Jewellers on at least one piece of jewellery. In the archaeological or Etruscan style, he was a talented jeweller. He developed his distinctive style, which was copied a lot in the 1880s and 1890s. The Italian-born Pasquale Novissimo, Guiliano’s assistant, created such delicate enamel decoration on Guillano ‘s pieces that they were difficult to copy.Read More →
Miriam Haskell was a New York-based American Jeweller. In 1924, at the McAlpin Hotel, where she sold her jewellery, Haskell opened up a small gift shop. Her key designer became Frank Hess, a display artist at the nearby Macy’s department store. They worked on antique-quality glass-bead and simulated-pearl jewellery. By the 1930s, their enterprise had expanded to include separate production facilities. Read More →
