A CLASS ACT
L’ÉCOLE, School of Jewelry Arts, makes its permanent debut in Hong Kong at K11 Musea, with a free-to-public exhibition of colourful Art Deco creations that showcase the wonder of jewellery arts
THERE’S BEEN NO shortage of flagship openings at Tsim Sha Tsui’s new culture-retail complex K11 Musea, but one that’s sure to grab headlines is the opening of the very first overseas campus of L’ÉCOLE, the school of jewellery arts that until now has only had a single permanent campus on Place Vendôme in Paris.
That’s not to say jewellery and art lovers won’t be familiar with L’ÉCOLE – supported by jeweller Van Cleef & Arpels, the school has visited Hong Kong three times, and its courses have always been highly oversubscribed. Classes typically fall under one of three categories: under art history, you’ll find topics such as “Art Nouveau Jewelry” or “Gold and Jewelry: from Antiquity to the Renaissance Princes”; under Gemology, participants can learn about “Fascinating Diamonds: History and Legends” or how to “Recognize the Gemstones”; and in hands-on Savoir-Faire workshops, there are opportunities to learn some of the jewellers’ most prized techniques, whether it’s gouaché or stone-setting. All of these are taught by the likes of historians, gemologists, jewellers, designers, mock-up artists, stone-setters and lacquer craftsmen, promising the experience is entirely authentic, and filled with secrets and tales from the industry’s top talent, many of whom have worked with Van Cleef & Arpels for decades, making some of the finest jewellery in the world. Class size is restricted to just 12 in most cases, for an experience as intimate as it’s interesting, and last between two to four hours.
L’ÉCOLE’s permanent debut in Hong Kong is feted with its first exhibition, part of a yearround educational and cultural programme, called “Precious Art Deco Objects”, which runs from November 11 until February 9. Admission is free and open to the public, as part of the institution’s bid to bring jewellery arts to a wider audience,
with some 50 masterpieces chosen specially from the collection of the late Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan, which are being shown in Asia for the first time ever, and act as a small but comprehensive overview of the Art Deco movement.
Van Cleef & Arpels’ Asia Pacific President, Nicolas Luchsinger, is a longtime supporter of L’ÉCOLE and curated the exhibition and has also spoken at a number of its Evening Conversations. Nicolas Luchsinger’s jewellery expertise began with a 10-year-long tenure at Christie’s, with which he rose to become Vice President and Senior Jewelry Specialist, preceding his joining Van Cleef & Arpels in 2006. During his stint as director of the latter’s New York’s Fifth Avenue boutique, he launched the Heritage Collection to give customers direct access to vintage house creations.
The choice of the Art Deco movement is no accident. “This far-reaching artistic movement, which swept the world almost a century ago, has a very distinctive art style that continues to serve as a source of inspiration for contemporary design,” explains Marie Vallenet-Delhom, president of L’ÉCOLE, School of Jewelry Arts. “In addition to influencing the world of jewellery arts, the movement’s influence can be seen across many other domains, including architecture, furniture design, interior design and the decorative arts.
“We hope that by getting the opportunity to admire these beautifully crafted precious objects up close, we’ll inspire the public to want to discover more about the secret world of jewellery arts.”
As a protracted gift to his wife, Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan spent years amassing this coveted collection, which includes over 100 Art Deco boxes signed by great Parisian jewellers of the 1920s and ‘30s. To entice viewers, Nicolas Luchsinger chose pieces that tell a broad story of colourful cultural inspiration. There are items such as a 1928 vanity case emblazoned with poppies that was influenced by Chinese decorative arts, a 1929 Persian-inspired cigarette box featuring the boldest of blues, and a 1926 amber and snakeskin vanity case made for Van Cleef & Arpels by Strauss, Allard & Meyer.
“Crafted in gold and enriched with ornamental or precious stones and adorned with mother-of-pearl, lacquer or translucent enamel, these exceptional Art Deco objects which have Chinese, Japanese, Persian and European influences, also show how global cultures inspired the movement,” he says.
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