Last year, the Victoria & Albert Museum in London staged a major exhibition of Cartier’s archive. Two years earlier, Louvre Abu Dhabi did the same. Each took a different lens: the V&A focused on Cartier’s London story, while the UAE museum explored its long dialogue with Islamic design.
Last autumn, Chaumet brought its Ode to Living Nature exhibition to Expo Osaka, while a previous nature-themed show was on display at M7 in Doha in 2024, tracing the house’s naturalistic lineage back to 1780.
Together, these exhibitions underscore how seriously France’s great jewellery houses invest in their archives. Archivists pore over ledgers, track provenance and reacquire historically significant pieces. These jewels serve a dual purpose: drawing wider audiences into a rarefied past and feeding the creative present by providing inspiration to the current crop of creative directors.
The high jewellery presentations in January were a perfect example of the Place Vendôme maisons delving into their archives to inspire new collections. At Chaumet, Envol — a recurring theme of flight — drew on a pair of diamond and translucent blue enamel wings, acquired in 1910 by collector Gertrude Payne Whitney and later fashioned into a tiara. The new collection reinterprets these stylised wings alongside other archival motifs.
“The heritage is an inexhaustible source of inspiration for Chaumet,” says the maison’s conservateur des archives. Founded in 1780 by Marie-Étienne Nitot, jeweller to Napoleon and Empress Joséphine, the house has long mined its own history – particularly Joséphine’s tiaras and aigrettes – for contemporary collections. “A jewellery house cannot last 250 years if it continuously produces the same jewels,” the archivist adds. Jewellery, like fashion, reflects shifts in culture and lifestyle; Chaumet’s task is to create for the present while remaining anchored in time.
At Boucheron, creative director Claire Choisne sees a similar continuity. She says she shares founder Frédéric Boucheron’s “deep enthusiasm for creativity and a desire to push beyond the limits of high jewellery”. Since 2020, her annual Histoire de Style collections have treated the archive not as nostalgia, but as a source of creative energy.
Themes have ranged from the Question Mark necklace and the Maharajahs collection to Queen Elizabeth II’s brooches.
The latest turns inward: octagonal motifs echo Place Vendôme, where Boucheron was the first contemporary jeweller to establish itself in 1893.
The Untamed necklace is a cascading version of the Question Mark necklace, based on ivy leaves; its creator preferred unassuming foliage to the fashionably stylised flora of the time. The piece can be separated into 13 jewels that can be worn on different parts of the body.
“Our archives are not a museum, they are a living resource,” Choisne explains.
“Honouring the past is not just a business strategy. It is a way of staying true to the spirit of the maison.” For clients, that translates into something tangible. “There is a feeling of touching part of our history,” she said – but always brought into the present through modern cuts and versatility.
Nearby on Rue de la Paix, Mellerio – founded in 1613 and often cited as the world’s oldest jewellery house – approaches its archive with similar intent. “Our history is fundamental to who we are,” says Laure-Isabelle Mellerio, the 14th-generation president and artistic director. The house holds records of every design since 1825. “We don’t just dip into them; they are a constant, vital source of inspiration,” she says. “Reconnecting with this history gives our pieces a soul.”
Among those references is a cameo bracelet featuring Roman emperors that was made for Marie Antoinette and is now echoed in the Cabinet de Curiosités collection. There are also 18th-century-style Italian girandole earrings that are popular with clients because they combine history and contemporary design, while the bright Colour Queen rings and bracelets have a Renaissance spirit. For Mellerio, heritage is also strategic. Entering new markets, it functions as “a vital psychological tool”, inspiring trust as much as admiration.
Claudia Piaserico, creative director of Italian goldsmith Fope, echoes the point. “When the world feels unstable, we look for something that feels safe,” she says. “History gives that feeling of safety, that you are a strong and reliable brand.”
Founded in 1929, Fope is younger than its Parisian counterparts, but is rooted in centuries of Italian goldsmithing. Its signature Mesh and Flex’it chains – introduced in the 1980s and 2007 – embody that balance of innovation and tradition. It is a modern business that prides itself on centuries-old traditions of gold craftsmanship in Italy.
Piaserico believes it is important to make people aware of their history. “We need to understand social evolution. Clients are buying luxury, but they also want reassurance that what they buy will hold its value,” she says.
“And value,” the creative director adds, “comes from heritage.”
