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The Chaumet Dandy goes Arty

The story of Chaumet begins in 1780 and blends with the history of France. Two centuries of creation through nine generations of jewelers whose know-how has been handed down without interruption from one workshop master to another.

It began with an event that has become part of the firm’s legend. A young jeweler named Marie-Etienne Nitot, whose shop was located on Place du Caroussel, caught the bridle of a runaway horse ridden by Napoleon Bonaparte, who was the French Consul at the time. The Emperor never forgot the young man’s courage and showed his appreciation by appointing Nitot as his official jeweler.

After completing his apprenticeship with Auber, jeweler to Queen Marie-Antoinette, and opening his own store, Marie-Etienne Nitot rapidly built up an aristocratic clientele. But it wasn’t until he became official jeweler to Napoleon in 1802 that he acquired his true renown.

Napoleon’s taste for jewelry was political. He wanted to restore France as the center of luxury creations and fashions it had been before the 1789 revolution.

Nitot, together with his son, designed the most extraordinary jewelry, combining magnificence and simplicity. In 1802, he created the Emperor’s consular sword, which he set with the famous Regent diamond. Two years later he produced the coronation jewels shown in “Le Couronnement” painted by J.L. David and on display at the Louvre. Then came the Imperial sword and the extraordinary jewels made for empresses Josephine and Marie-Louise.

Sentimental, creative jewels for Josephine, whose confident taste allowed him every eccentricity; and sumptuous jewels created for Marie-Louise, such as the diamond necklace given to her by the Emperor on the birth of his son (proclaimed the King of Rome).

Chaumet became the “tiara specialist”, as can be seen in the hundreds of models in nickel silver, thousands of drawings and Marie-Louise’s wedding jewels on display in the Chaumet Museum in Paris.

“Initially Chaumet was a House that created tiaras, crowns, and other jewelry,” confirms Lionel Giraud, Artistic Director at Chaumet, “then, soon after – watchmaking. Not in the sense of a watch manufactory but in the same sense as many watch brands today – as a collaboration between a jewelry company that created the watch case and another that made the movement – initially this was Breguet.”

At its roots Chaumet is a House that is very Parisian, and the founder and his successors have all been people that have come from jewelry workshops – high jewelry or the heads of workshops.

There is a long history of Chaumet watches collaborating with famous watchmakers – the first watch signed “Chaumet”, with a movement by Breguet, dates from 1811, around 10 years ago Chaumet collaborated with François-Paul Journe and more recently with Marc Alfieri. “We don’t develop movements, that is not our métier,” says Giraud. “We are more involved with aesthetics, design, elegance, more in the French tradition of working with our own in-house ateliers.”

Not surprisingly, Chaumet perpetuates this inimitable savoir-faire as a Parisian jeweler – 200 years of creation – by inscribing the firm’s core values in a contemporary context. The style of Chaumet is very much “sentimental”. That is, in creating pieces that are pleasing to the eye but also signifies something sentimental, something personal and often hidden from view – and often, given their very “Frenchness”, something connected with love.

Typical of their flair for creating hidden emotion behind the pieces they produce is Chaumet’s Dandy Collection – an evening watch range reminiscent of the man who goes out on the town to hit the high spots in his tuxedo. Dandyism is, according to Beaudelaire, “An institution beyond the laws, that has its own laws,” and this watch collection fulfills all those “own” laws.

This watch collection, with cushion-shaped cases, curved taut lines, and generally a black tone-on-tone dial, carries a myriad of details reminiscent of the 20s. The range is very elegant and very evening-wear and includes those evening “essentials” such as a pocket watch and a fob watch – as Beau Brumell said, “ True elegance is understatement.”

Chaumet’s Only Watch 09 is a unique piece – never to be repeated – and world preview of the range that this watch heads, which is the latest in Chaumet’s Dandy range called “Arty” and is very much in the dandy style with all the aesthetic attention to detail that Chaumet is noted for.

The 40 mm Only Watch unique piece 1/1 Dandy Arty edition is in rose gold and has the Dandy tuxedo stripes across the dial and the case. The dial is black and is positioned so that the crown fits comfortably in the strap. The movement is a mechanical automatic jumping hours movement with hours indicated in an aperture at 9 o’clock, minutes indicated in the large dial, and seconds in a separate sub-dial. The solid rose gold case shows two different finishes: mat at the top and polished on the sides. The black leather lined bracelet is black patent leather with a satin band – the same way as men’s evening dress shoes.

“I love the idea to be able to read the time in this way,” says Giraud. “It is so much easier and with 12 o’clock being in line with the wristband it also makes it easier to view the time.”

The watch carries an engraved dedication to Only Watch and unique piece.

 

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For more information contact:
Ita McCobb
Patrizzi & Co Auctioneers SA
Tel +41 22 318 28 38
e-mail i.mccobb@patrizziauction.com

Audrey Baylac
Association Monégasque contre les Myopathies / Monaco Yacht Show
Tel +377 93 10 41 70
e-mail audrey@monacoyachtshow.mc