Brilliant Writings exhibition – Chaumet jewellery and famous writers

The House of Chaumet, a Parisian jeweller since 1780, is holding an exhibition called Brillantes Écritures from 22 February to 1 April 2019 in Paris.

The Brillantes Écritures (Brilliant Writings) exhibition has literary works, historic jewels, archive documents, drawings and photographs. The pieces on display tell the stories of clients who are famous writers and literary figures.

Famous writers – and their Chaumet jewellery – on display include Honoré de Balzac (1799-1850), Alexandre Dumas (1802-1870), Prosper Mérimée (1803-1870), Alfred de Musset (1810-1857), Théophile Gautier (1811-1872), Comtesse Greffulhe (1860-1952), Edith Wharton (1862-1937), Edmond Rostand (1868-1918), Colette (1873-1954), Karen Blixen (1885-1962), Olga Picasso (1891-1955), Louise de Vilmorin (1902-1969), Marie-Laure de Noailles (1902-1970), and Véronique Ovaldé (1972-).

Edith Wharton, American author of The Age of Innocence, was the first woman to be awarded an honorary doctorate at Yale University. She adorned her ceremonial gown with a Chaumet pearl and diamond choker necklace with a tiger’s eye gemstone in the centre.

Baron von Blixen, husband of Danish author Karen Blixen, who lived in Kenya and wrote Out of Africa, commissioned several pieces of Chaumet jewellery for his wife. One of the pieces was a sail pin with diamond hearts in a Belle Époche design.

Olga Picasso, the dancer with the Russian Ballet and wife of Pablo Picasso, had many Chaumet pieces including a brooch-jewelled bag with her initials.

Edmond Rostand, French poet and dramatist who wrote Cyrano de Bergerac, bought jewellery for his wife, the poet Rosemonde Gérard, who dedicated these famous lines to him: ‘Each day I love you more, Today more than yesterday and less than tomorrow.' Their orders included several rings, honouring their love.

Louise de Vilmorin was a French woman of letters. Her most famous novel, Madame de, was adapted for cinema by the German director Max Ophüls. At the centre of this game of love and lies is a pair of heart-shaped earrings, which are not dissimilar to the Maison Chaumet’s emblematic jewellery. Her friends decided to give her an accessory to wear at her Parisian parties, so they ordered a jewelled Chaumet evening bag for her, with a platinum and gold clasp set with sapphires. She carried the bag so often that the Maison Chaumet had to repair it several times.

Colette was an avant-garde French writer, actress, mime artist and journalist. She became friendly with the star jeweller of the time, Pierre Sterlé, who created unique jewellery for Maison Chaumet and for her.

Marie-Étienne Nitot established the Maison Chaumet in 1780 after working as the jeweller to Marie-Antoinette at the Court of Versailles. Strangely, I was wearing Marie-Antoinette replica earrings – in the famous pear-shaped (teardrop) design – when I visited the Chaumet exhibition. In 1805, Maison Chaumet became the official jeweller to Napoleon and Josephine Bonaparte.

MARTINA NICOLLSis an international aid and development consultant, and the authorof:- Similar But Different in the Animal Kingdom(2017), The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).

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