How Napoleon paid for the life of a French jeweler, and how he won the hearts of the wives of billionaires

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

Once a jeweler named Marie-Etienne Nito saved the life of the emperor of France himself - this is how the history of the Chaumet jewelry house began, which won the hearts of European aristocrats and the wives of American billionaires. Bracelets with secret ciphers, watch jewels, flirting with postmodernism and loyalty to tradition - all this has made Chaumet one of the most iconic jewelry brands of our day.

The Chaumet Jewelry House did not get its elegant name right away - and its history began back in 1789. Jeweler Marie-Etienne Nito opened his shop in Paris on the rue Saint-Honoré and quietly worked on creating his jewelry in a classical style - and would have remained among the many little-known jewelers of those years, if not for the case. One day, Nito saw that a distraught horse was rushing down the street, and the rider was too frightened and confused to cope with it. Resolute Nito managed to stop the horse and soon received not only gratitude, but also the post of court jeweler. That frightened horseman was the French consul Napoleon Bonaparte, who, after becoming emperor, decided to pay back in full for his saved life. Orders from monarchs fell on Nito - and he knew how to please customers.

Together with his son, he made a consular sword for Napoleon, decorated with the famous Regent diamond, a crown for the coronation of Bonaparte himself and a diadem for Josephine. All the works of the master are executed in the solemn Empire style, which became popular with the accession of Napoleon to the French throne. Nito loved to work with pearls and generally the finest shades of white. At the request of the august customers - the first wife of Napoleon, Josephine, and the second, Marie-Louise Habsburg - Nito invented a special cipher based on the names of precious stones. For Marie-Louise, he created romantic acronym bracelets in which her name, birthday and date of meeting with Bonaparte were encrypted. Today, the heirs of the Nito case - the Chaumet jewelry house - continue to use this technique. Using special software, the Chaumet craftsmen have developed their own secret code based on the names of twenty-six precious stones - they correspond to twenty-six letters of the Latin alphabet. From the first letters of the stones used to create the jewelry, and the Roman numerals placed between them, important names and dates are added. A necklace with an encrypted day of the first kiss, a bracelet with the name of a lover or earrings with the name of a favorite dog - since 2005, Chaumet has been creating jewelry with any secret message.

And now - let's go back to the long gone XIX century. The Nito case was taken over by Jean-Baptiste and Jules Vossen - father and son. They, unlike the founders of the business with their classic shapes and perfect cut, preferred highly artistic naturalism in their works and sought to create precious flowers and fruits, almost indistinguishable from real ones. Here is a glare on a bunch of grapes, here is a petal, ready to flinch at the slightest breeze … The successors of the Vossen were again father and son - Jean Valentin and Prosper Morel.

The Morel family managed to bring the jewelry house to the international market, open its branch in London and become the favorite jewelers of Queen Victoria. True, the inventive queen preferred jewelry according to her own sketches - but Jean Valentin and Prosper were able to perfectly embody the ideas generated by her rich imagination. Jean Valentin Morel took first place at the World Exhibition of 1851 - his skill was still talked about for a long time … His son was not inferior to his father in his skills, but Jean Valentin Morel's granddaughter contributed to the emergence of the modern name of the jewelry house. She married a young and enterprising jeweler named Joseph Chaumet, who, having become the main business in 1895, decided to change the sign and brand - and what could be better than his own surname?

Soon enough, the House of Chaumet opened a shop on the Place Vendome. Here and now is their main boutique - as well as a museum and headquarters. Visitors are "greeted" by a portrait of Empress Marie-Louise, the first and beloved client of the very same Nito, the savior of Napoleon Bonaparte. Even centuries later, the Empress demonstrates the very jewelry that began the dizzying rise of the jewelry house.

Under the leadership of Jean and Marcel Chaumé, the style and technology of jewelry creation began to change rapidly, and the number of clients grew steadily. At the turn of the century, Chaumet jewelry caught the attention of the Russian nobility. Among the admirers of the jewelry house were the Golitsyns, Obolenskys, Orlovs and the refined prince Yusupov. And American millionaires did not lag behind: for a rich American woman it was considered simply indecent not to have anything from Chaumet in her personal collection! Craftsmen experimented with Art Nouveau and Art Deco, abandoned complex nuances in favor of dramatic contrasts, began to use semi-precious stones …

The First World War broke out, revolutions in Russia and Germany, the European aristocracy was losing its wealth and status … These years were not easy for Chaumet, but flexibility and ability to work with any target audience saved them from collapse. This is how cheaper middle-class jewelry and jewelry watches appeared. Now, however, Chaumet watches have again become "luxury" - white gold, unique diamonds of a special cut and a high-precision movement made in Switzerland.

One of the traditional motifs of Chaumet jewelry is a firmament with stars and a thin crescent moon. For our contemporaries, like the European princesses of the past, Chaumet jewelers offer exquisite wedding tiaras, where the crescent moon is lost in the branches, and birds flutter carelessly among the clouds.

Today Chaumet has forty-five stores and more than three hundred boutiques around the world. Since 1999, Chaumet has been owned by the LVMH Group. Like many other jewelry brands, Chaumet provides its customers not only with jewelry, but also elite perfumery collections.