The School of Jewelry Arts is devoting an exhibition to Lacloche Jewelers, with an accompanying monograph. It is a well-deserved tribute for a French jewelry house that enjoyed iconic status before sinking into oblivion in the late 1960s.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The exhibition is curated by Laurence Mouillefarine, who also co-authored the book “Lacloche Jewelers” with V\u00e9ronique Ristelhueber. As the invited guest at the last School of Jewelry Arts “Evening Conversation”, hosted by gemologist and journalist Capucine Juncker, Laurence outlined the Lacloche saga and shared entertaining highlights from her quest for jewels and archive material.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“Lacloche Jewelers”: the idea for the book <\/strong><\/p>\n Francis Lacloche, the grandson of one of four brothers who founded the eponymous house in 1892, came up with the idea for the book. The brothers were Belgian, of Jewish extraction. Laurence recounts: \u201cTheir father was a peddler who died very young. Probably their father-in-law, a goldsmith and jeweler, was the one who got them interested in the jewelry trade.\u201d<\/em> The oldest two brothers, L\u00e9opold and Jules, set up shop in Rue de Ch\u00e2teaudun in Paris, while the younger two, Jacques and Fernand, worked in Madrid. One brother died in a train accident between Biarritz and Paris, and in 1901 the others consolidated their businesses into one, which enjoyed stellar success. They got new premises at 15 Rue de la Paix and then a shop in London\u2019s very fashionable New Bond Street. Lacloche Jewelers were always just a few doors away from Cartier and shared the same clientele. Some of the world\u2019s most illustrious gemstones passed through their hands. For the new Duchess of Westminster they made a tiara mounted with two pear-shaped Golconda diamonds (weighing 23 and 33 carats) given to Queen Charlotte of England by the Nawab of Arcot. Lacloche Fr\u00e8res opened boutiques in Biarritz, San Sebastian, Cannes, and Nice. They made extremely good marriages \u2013 delighting their ambitious mother \u2013 and this may have facilitated their meteoric rise.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The 1925 International Exhibition \u2013 a key milestone<\/strong><\/p>\n Lacloche distinguished itself at the International Exhibition of Modern Decorative and Industrial Arts, held in Paris, France \u2013 the world capital of fine jewelry-making \u2013 where, as Capucine Juncker makes clear, \u201cThe chief criterion was to show pieces that bore no reference to the past.\u201d<\/em> In a gilded marquee at the Grand Palais thronged with elite jewelers like Van Cleef & Arpels, Cartier, and Sandoz, their Fables de la Fontaine-inspired jewelry was an instant hit with the press. People went wild over \u201cThe Fox and the Crow\u201d pendant, with its superb yellow diamond \u201ccheese\u201d. Lacloche also drew a lot of attention for the exquisite boxes that were their specialty: powder compacts, vanity cases, and cigarette cases for liberated women who now smoked and touched up their makeup in public. The other rule at the World\u2019s Fair was to mention the names of their workshops: Lacloche Jewelers used Lenfant, Verger and Pery (among the best in Paris), and as Laurence says, \u201cThey absolutely deserve to have a section of the book devoted to them\u201d<\/em>.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Characteristically Lacloche<\/strong><\/p>\n None of the jewelry houses employed in-house designers at that time. Like Van Cleef & Arpels or Boucheron, the Lacloche brothers would pick and choose among the pieces that their workshops came up with. Hence some very similar designs, like diamond bracelets with Egyptian-style patterns, are found among several of the big jewelers. Laurence observes that \u201cit\u2019s difficult to define a specific Lacloche style, but one thing is certain \u2013 their designs were tasteful, original and often quite bold\u201d<\/em>. See for instance their owl box, the bat bag (a lesbian symbol in those days), or most obviously the stunning rock crystal pendant watch with a sculpted nymph, covered with faceted amethysts. This is a jewelry masterpiece, as is the bracelet of platinum \u201clace\u201d and diamonds with “petit point” tapestry. It was inspired by a technique used by Faberg\u00e9<\/a> (whose stock Lacloche London acquired in 1917) that can be seen on an Easter egg gifted to the Russian Tsar. Apparently one of his designers got the idea from seeing her mother-in-law embroidering a tapestry.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Dedication to detail<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cThis petit point bracelet exemplifies Lacloche\u2019s painstaking attention to detail,\u201d<\/em> enthuses Capucine Juncker. \u201cEvery hole was drilled by hand, which is unimaginable today.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0 The cases also showcase the art of gem carving, showing a lifelike sprig of cherry blossom unfolding over a lid against an empty background. Equally breathtaking is a bracelet made of 283 baguette-cut diamonds, whose subtle brilliance undulates beneath the light. When you know how wasteful the baguette cut is, this bracelet seems all the more precious. The catalogue cover features a 1925 bracelet that is just as remarkable, with an articulated mounting, millegrainsetting with small stones, and polished cabochon ruby petals.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Lacloche rises from the ashes<\/strong><\/p>\n Despite its renown, the company went bankrupt in 1931. Not because of the 1929 crash, or bad management, but because one of the sons was an incorrigible gambler. Everything had to be sold \u2013 the premises, the stock, and the order books. Five years later another son, Jacques Lacloche Jr (father of Francis), relaunched the company in his own name with shops on Place Vend\u00f4me and La Croisette in Cannes. His penchant for modern art was evident in fully articulated pieces, and a bracelet with removable cabochons of coral, turquoise or sapphire. Success came swiftly, with clients including Prince Rainier of Monaco, Elsa Schiaparelli and the Prince of Nepal. Lacloche preempted Cartier as the first jeweler to launch a fragrance, N\u00b01. Then in 1967, he left jewelry behind to open a design gallery on Rue de Grenelle. \u201cHe became so well known for his gallery that we\u2019ve forgotten his jewelry,\u201d<\/em> laments Laurence. \u201cHe was behind Roger Tallon\u2019s spiral staircase!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Remarkable detective work<\/strong><\/p>\n Jacques\u2019 son Francis Lacloche managed to save the stock ledgers from being destroyed, so this period of Lacloche\u2019s history is relatively well known. However, for the earlier years from 1892 to 1931, \u201cthe only clue we could find \u2013 after 6 months of research \u2013 was a little catalogue published by the Mus\u00e9e des Arts D\u00e9coratifs commemorating the 1925 exhibition. And even that carried no pictures, just a few lines saying \u2018Lacloche Fr\u00e8res – Album of 63 watercolors – Jewels and cases, Lacloche Fr\u00e8res – Album of 21 small clocks, original watercolors\u2019\u201d.<\/em> Some fine sleuthwork led Laurence to discover that these albums had been rescued, auctioned off by Jacques Lacloche in the late \u201870s, bought by a Geneva dealer, then sold on to a New York collector… who had just died when she called him! She finally caught up with them at the house of their new owner \u2013 another New York dealer, and a drawing aficionado. So after over two years of research, these two wonderful albums enabled the authors to write their monograph and put together the exhibition, which features 76 pieces of jewelry from all around the world. Definitely well worth seeing.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Shop the “Lacloche Jewelers” monograph co-published by the\u00a0Editions Norma<\/a> and the School of Jewelry Arts<\/p>\n