About Chaumet Brand:
Being the first jeweler to arrive on now famous Place Vendôme in 1812, Chaumet jewelry has been staying an expression of traditional Parisian style ever since.
Chaumet pieces have long been a favorite with the French aristocrats. In 19th century, Joséphine Bonaparte, the Empress of the French and the first wife of Emperor Napoleon, was one of the brand’s famous clients and appreciators.
Fast forward two centuries, Chaumet style is based on exploration of all things of nature. The brand itself calls it “naturalist jewelry”. The Maison’s designers use symbolism of plants, opulence of gardens and delicacy of grass to permeate Chaumet jewelry creations with the energy of the wild nature.
In the modern world, the most popular Chaumet collections are the Liens, the Bee My Love and the Josephine.
Find more of our Chaumet pieces here.
About Vintage French Jewelry:
Vintage French jewelry is highly valued by jewelry experts and enthusiasts.
Since the late Renaissance, France has been established itself as one of the world trendsetters in art and fashion. A quick look at the top 5 French jewelry designers — Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels, Hermes, Chaumet, Chanel — describes French level of greatness even better.
What allowed France to reach such a high level in the jewelry world hierarchy? In a nutshell, it’s because of the apprenticeship system. In the beginning of 1950s in France anyone at the age 14 could start learning the craft. This way French jewelers, like no others in the world, gain a substantial portion of experience at the early age. Even non-designer jewels were produced by the highly skilled masters.
Most modern jewelry is not handcrafted anymore, and mass market-oriented production is prevailing. Jewelry designs are streamlined to use as little hand labor as possible. That’s why today vintage French jewelry is in such high demand.
Here is the most desirable French vintage jewelry from Nadine Krakov Collection.
About Retro Jewelry:
The Retro era in jewelry is dated to the 1930-40s. These ten years brought us a distinct look that has been highly admired through the years.
During the World War II the entire world was changing, and jewelry world was under the influence as well. For instance, bracelets were often designed by using the geometry of tank treads. In order to confront that brutality, for some of the pieces jewelers reinstated Victorian floral motifs in a romantic and even fragile way. That approach resulted in a vast variety of brooches. Butterflies, flowers, starbursts, birds, and animals flooded jewelry market during retro era.
Some of the materials — such as platinum — were hard to find and even forbidden to be sold. That’s why retro jewelry was often made of yellow, rose and even green gold alloys.
Shortage of gemstones forced jewelers to use semi-precious stones: citrine, aquamarine, amethyst. Pave technique allowed to achieve a big look with little diamonds. Another sign of that time was enamel that was used to accentuate the stone or even replace it.
