L'ÉCOLE's Publications

From the time of the kings to the gold rushes and up to today's collectors, precious stones arouse many fantasies about color, light and rarity, which gives them a value that borders on the dream. A sign of wealth and power, the brilliance of gemstones also evokes the geological depth of time, an epic of several billion years, that of the Earth.

François Farges and Olivier Segura take us on a journey to discover these gemstones and their formation. By telling their story, they share with us the most intriguing secrets of the planet.

From the properties of turquoise to the symbolism of diamonds and the Great Sapphire of the French Crown, this guide, with more than 1,000 photos, will take you into the fascinating world of gems.
 

Authors: François Farges, Professor at the National Museum of Natural History & Olivier Segura, Scientific Director of the L'ÉCOLE, School of Jewelry Arts

Publisher: Dunod / L'ÉCOLE, School of Jewelry Arts

Available in French (English publication coming soon)

Since 2020, L'ÉCOLE, School of Jewelry Arts has supported the development of the Mineralogy Museum of Mines Paris - PSL; it is within this framework that it has accompanied the publication of this book.

This book explores the incredible collection of nearly 100 000 minerals, rocks, meteorites and gems of the Mineralogy Museum of the École Nationale Supérieure des Mines de Paris, one of the world’s largest collections of mineralogy, created since 1783. It invites the reader to travel through geological times, but also in the history of humanity and the complex relationships it has with the priceless treasures that nature offers.

Authors: Didier Nectoux, director of the Mineralogy Museum of Mines Paris - PSL and Eloïse Gaillou, curator of the Museum of Mineralogy, in charge of collections and exhibitions, research and teaching.

Editor: Gallimard (Collection Découvertes) / L'ÉCOLE, School of Jewelry Arts

Available in French only

As the result of an investigative work carried out during more than seventeen years by Remi Verlet, L'ÉCOLE publishes a reference work to all those interested in the world of jewelry and goldsmithing : The dictionary of jewelers and goldsmiths, in France from 1850 to the present.

This corpus is structured around two volumes: a dictionary and an index.

• The dictionary contains approximately 40,000 entries on jewelers, goldsmiths, silversmiths, chasers, repousseurs, designers, etc. and is accompanied by a description of 25,000 hallmarks, 9,000 of which are reproduced in the form of stylized drawings.

• The second volume proposes an index to find the craftsmen of the first volume starting from the description of their hallmark.

Author: Remi Verlet

Editor: L'École des Arts Joailliers

Available in French only

Amply illustrated and documented, this work constitutes a true introductory text to glyptic art, thanks to its chronological approach to the history of engraved gems in the West. The author unveils a miniature world which has fascinated kings, emperors, collectors and admirers of art. With the subtle engraved effects, cameos (engraved in relief) and intaglios (engraved in recess) have come down to us mounted on jewels or on relics, following all the themes of the history of art: mythology, symbols, portraits, allegories, etc.

Author: Philippe Malgouyres, art historian and chief curator of the Department of Art Objects of the Musée du Louvre

Editor: Gallimard (« Découvertes » Collection) / L'ÉCOLE, School of Jewelry Arts

Available in English and in French
 

This book is born from the realization that there aren’t any publications for the general public which present the crafts of jewelry. Even though these crafts bring together exceptional and prestigious expertise, they are still insufficiently known.
Beautifully illustrated with photographs from major jewelry houses, this book showcases the diversity, the demanding and technical nature, but also the beauty of the different gestures which are combined in order to achieve the most precious and daring creations. Thanks to the iconographic choices which highlight the work of craftsmen and their virtuosity, this book allows for the discovery of the crafts of jewelry and is an invitation to wonder.

Author: Guillaume Glorieux, University Professor, Director of Education and Research at L'ÉCOLE, School of Jewelry Arts

Editor: Gallimard («Découvertes» Collection) / L'ÉCOLE, School of Jewelry Arts

Available in English, French, Traditional Chinese & Simplified Chinese

This book presents an anthology of literary texts, French and from other countries, ancient and modern, revolving around the subject of jewelry. It is part of the “Le goût du…” collection of works, published by Gallimard in the Mercure de France collection.

Author: Texts chosen and presented by Jean-Noël Mouret

Editor: Gallimard (Collection Mercure de France) / L'ÉCOLE, School of Jewelry Arts

Publishing date: October 2018
128 pages

Available in English and in French

1st volume of a trilogy published in partnership with the Musée des Arts décoratifs, highlighting the jewels of the Galerie des Bijoux, of which L'ÉCOLE is a partner.

Flowers have long been a source of inspiration for jewelers, many of whom have sought to capture their transient beauty in glittering gemstones and precious metals. The floral pieces in this book have all been selected from the magnificent jewelry collection of the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris, and range from the 17th century to the present day. Beautifully photographed by renowned photographer Jean-Marie del Moral, these intricate works of art will delight all lovers of jewelry and nature.

Authors: Patrick Mauriès, writer, journalist and publisher & Evelyne Possémé, chief curator at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris.

Editor: Thames & Hudson / L'ÉCOLE, School of Jewelry Arts

Publishing Date: October 2016
128 pages, 110 illustrations

Available in English and in French
 

2nd volume of a trilogy published with the Musée des Arts décoratifs, highlighting the jewels of the Galerie des Bijoux, of which L'ÉCOLE is a partner.

This volume deals more particularly with the theme of fauna in the history of jewelry. The animal kingdom has been a source of inspiration for jewelers since the days of antiquity. Chosen for their symbolism, beauty, or personality, a whole menagerie of creatures has been depicted in gemstones and precious metals, ranging from fantastical dragons, griffins, and sphinxes to wild beasts such as boars and big cats, to the delicate forms of birds, fish, and even insects. The 130 pieces in this book have been specially selected from the magnificent jewelry collection of the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris.

Authors: Patrick Mauriès, writer, journalist and publisher & Evelyne Possémé, chief curator at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris.

Editor: Thames & Hudson / L'ÉCOLE, School of Jewelry Arts

Publishing date: September 2017
128 pages, 110 illustrations

Available in English and in French
 

Following on from Flora and Fauna, this is the third book in a series devoted to the splendid jewelry collection of the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, of which L'ÉCOLE is a partner.
The theme this time is the human figure. It begins in the Byzantine era and ranges through the medieval and Renaissance periods and beyond to the 19th century, when Lalique, Fouquet and the Maison Vever produced pieces that were the embodiment of elegant sophistication, and into the 20th, when artists such as Picasso and Giacometti joined forces with jewelers like Jean Lurçat and Line Vautrin. Figures & Faces is packed with striking and witty works of art that will charm all lovers of jewelry.

Authors: Patrick Mauriès, writer, journalist and publisher & Evelyne Possémé, chief curator at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris.

Editor: Thames & Hudson / L'ÉCOLE, School of Jewelry Arts

Publishing Date: March 2018
128 pages, 110 illustrations

Available in English and in French
 

Jewelry holds a central place in the profound evolution in aesthetics that began in the 1880s. Far from being a mere reflection of a history of art written elsewhere – in the “major” fields of painting, sculpture, or architecture – it played an active role in a radical imaginative renewal fueled by developments in scientific knowledge that were being diffused across a newly invigorated visual culture.

Supplemented with a glossary of materials and techniques, as well as an ample bibliography, this book helps us understand the extraordinary rise of the art of jewelry and bijouterie in France from 1880 to 1914.

Authors: Rossella Froissart, Research Director at the École Pratique des Hautes Études (EPHE-PSL) and curator of the exhibition. With the collaboration of Florent Guérif and Paul Paradis.

Editor: Editions Norma / L’ÉCOLE, School of Jewelry Arts

Bilingual edition

The collection of cameos and intaglios gathered by Guy Ladrière opens the door to the miniature and sublime world of the glyptic, the art of engraved gems inherited from antiquity. The work of a lifetime, the collection covers the long history of glyptic production through the 19th century. After the 2016 book published in Oxford, The Guy Ladrière Collection of Gems and Rings, this catalogue raisonné established by Philippe Malgouyres admirably presents and studies this unique collection, in which all periods and techniques are represented.

Author: Philippe Malgouyres, art historian and chief curator of the Department of Art Objects of the Musée du Louvre

Editor: Mare et Martin / L'ÉCOLE, School of Jewelry Arts

Available in English and in French
 

The jewelry drawing has long remained hidden from view and from the public. Functional or the testimonials of unfulfilled dreams, since the 15th century, these paper jewels nevertheless constitute the unknown side of the jewels to which they have often given birth.
This book presents some one hundred drawings, mainly from the Van Cleef & Arpels Jewelry Culture Fund, ranging from the second half of the 18th century to the start of the 20th century. For the first time, it sheds light on this largely ignored part of the decorative arts, in which anonymous artisans and artists rub shoulders with the great figures of the jewelry world, Tiffany, Lalique, Vever, as well as renowned workshops, like Paillet, Brédillard and Mellerio- Borgnis.
Through the study of its technique, authors or its use, the book, which accompanies the exhibition at L'ÉCOLE, School of Jewelry Arts, beginning on October 14, 2021, provides a glimpse into a range of topics, and shines light on a type of drawing that is at once a tool, an archival document and a veritable work of art.

Authors: Guillaume Glorieux, Director of Teaching and Research at L'ÉCOLE, School of Jewelry Arts
Michaël Decrossas & Stéphanie Desvaux, exhibition curators: ‘‘Designing Jewels’’

Editor: Editions Norma / L’ÉCOLE, School of Jewelry Arts
 

This monograph is the first to retrace the astonishing rise of the Lacloche family despite their modest beginnings at the rue de Châteaudun in 1892. Renowned for their elegance and refined craftsmanship, the models made by Lacloche Frères, and their successor, Jacques Lacloche, were designed by the best Parisian workshops, such as Strauss Allard Meyer, Verger, Helluin-Mattlinger, Langlois and Rubel, to which this book pays tribute. Two extraordinary gouache albums, hitherto unpublished, bring to life the 63 jewels and 21 clocks presented by Lacloche Frères at the 1925 Exhibition.

Authors: Laurence Mouillefarine, journalist, art market specialist and curator of the exhibition « Lacloche Jewelers » & Véronique Ristelhueber, archivist and iconographer, specializing in twentieth-century architecture, design and landscape.

Editor: Editions Norma / L'ÉCOLE, School of Jewelry Arts

Publishing Date: October 2019
320 pages, over 700 images

Bilingual edition, in English and in French
 

Book published on the occasion of the « Men’s rings » exhibition at L'ÉCOLE, School of Jewelry Arts and dedicated to Yves Gastou’s incredible ring collection, presenting an array of 500 rings ranging from the rings of 17th century Venice doges, to American biker rings of the 1970s, ancient Egyptian rings to 19th century “memento mori” skull rings, 18th century enameled rings, to rings by contemporary artists…

Authors: Yves Gastou, Delphine Antoine, art historian and curator of the « Men’s rings » exhibition & Harold Mollet

Editor: Gingko Press / L'ÉCOLE, School of Jewelry Arts

Publishing Date: October 2018
304 pages

Available in English and in French