Eobviously, Valérie Samuel knows the house well since her grandfather, Fred Samuel, is the founder. In her eyes, the heritage of the jeweler of which she is the vice-president and artistic director is not made up of archives but of memories that flourish over several generations: “My father and my uncle joined the family business quite late. They were sailors at heart. This taste for the open sea, however, has produced great results since it is to my father Henri that we owe Force 10.” This gold shackle extended by a steel cable has been at the top of sales since its creation more than 50 years old.
Baptized “Inner Light”, the high jewelry collection presented at the beginning of September is part of a long sequence, within which is inserted a major retrospective exhibition which will begin in a few days at the Palais de Tokyo as well as the reissue of the book Memoirs of a jeweler, published in 1993 and written by Fred Samuel himself. The purpose of this speech is to remind the singularity of a creative identity, but also to confirm the extent of a jewelry expertise to a wide audience. These objectives will be supported by Charles Leung, Chairman and CEO of the house since September 2018, who after leading Cartier retail in the Chinese market has played a key role in Chaumet’s growth, particularly in Asia Pacific.
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Intimate portrait of a house
Divided into several chapters, “Interior Light” paints an intimate portrait of a house and its founder. Engraved on the reverse of each piece, a mantra – in English – underlines this intimacy. To signify the taste for the unexpected that characterized Fred Samuel’s first productions, three pieces showcase a myriad of slightly pinkish-white oriental pearls. “My grandfather started out with the Worms brothers in 1925. With them, he became an expert in pearls, which he wanted to add to his artistic vocabulary from the moment he founded his own house in 1936. A slight nuance dew bore his name. I wanted this trilogy composed of a choker, a cuff and a ring encircling two fingers to recall this predilection while evoking the ocean. These 100 pearls – some from the white eastern South Seas, others slightly pink Akoya – represent an aquatic coming and going, a foam. »
Four creations resuscitate the brilliance of the jeweler who left his mark on the film Pretty Woman : the choker composed of hearts in rubies and diamonds offered by Richard Gere to Julia Roberts was signed by the house. This chapter is organized around a range in black and white on which the flame of the pink tourmaline stands out. Valérie Samuel draws our attention to the exceptional technical skill behind these pieces in onyx, diamonds and black lacquer. “This long necklace with heart links can be transformed into a bracelet or a necklace of different sizes, some links hide invisible clasps which allow you to hang reversible medallions. The central heart medallion, adorned with an 8.29-carat tourmaline, offers 12 different lifts, bringing to 50 the number of lifts offered by the necklace, which required months of work from our craftsmen. »
The sugar loaf cabochon, which commemorates the light of Latin America where Fred Samuel spent his youth, is also featured in a set of 5 pieces that are not without challenges. Mosaics of precious, fine and ornamental stones compose aquatic monochromes with striking reflections thanks to the doublet or even triplet technique. The marine blue of a Santa Maria-coloured aquamarine (which required a year of research) radiates from a breastplate which seems to borrow its liquid mobility from the waves and the light. This masterpiece has the luxury, thanks to the ionized titanium that makes up its frame, of offering on its reverse all the chromatic richness deployed on the front. The gold also shines in majesty on 4 pieces multiplying the broken asymmetrical lines which are like so many brushstrokes intended to magnify the fire propagated by the yellow and white diamonds. Force 10 finally recalls to our memory in a last chapter. The creation imagined by Henri Samuel in 1966 proves the versatility of its essence at the heart of 5 unique pieces including a bracelet that multiplies the prowess. “The shackle, to ensure an extra-flat setting, was cut from a solid block (1,250 carats) of South Asian aquamarine. We laid it on a pavé of diamonds to offer a depth effect. A diamond in the center catches our eye. Its shape is unique. “This 32-facet cut took us a year to develop. It evokes the sail of a boat. Charles Helleu speaks here. “It’s always an exceptional moment for a jeweler to create a new stone cut. I wanted to baptize her Hero Cut. You can see a sail there, but also the strength of a shield. This size, which pays homage to the courage and perseverance of Fred Samuel, adopts resolutely mixed lines. The message is clear: the acceleration of Fred’s development will also go through the male sex.
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