Lydia Courteille - Let The Jewelry Do The Talking

Written by Tami Mnoian on Monday, 19 October 2009 12:05

When I arrived in Paris, I had no schedule to keep, save for a late-morning Wednesday appointment with the jewelry designer, Lydia Courteille. I was staying in the Parisian suburb of Saint Cloud and my friend, whom I was visiting, accompanied me to Ms. Courteille’s dark, velvety headquarters on Rue St. Honoré. Outside the shop, there was a large display window filled with Ms. Courteille’s creations, accompanied with a sign, in English, that said, Please do not photograph.

Stepping into the tiny shop was like walking into a life-size jewelry box—dark and dramatic. I wondered where the twirling ballerina might be. Glass cases were filled to the brim with a menagerie of exquisite gems. There were over-sized pink elephant cuffs made of pink gold, pink sapphires and pink beryl. Rings that featured tiny diamond lobsters embracing a large Vietnamese ruby or frogs made from a rainbow of colored diamonds. There were black and brown diamond monkey earrings, swinging from green garnet vines and diamond bats circling hoop earrings. To keep the collection edgy, Ms. Courteille also offered a variety of skull pieces, like a red coral skull ring and a diamond skeleton charm necklace.

My friend and I were greeted with a warm welcome from Ms. Courteille’s publicity director, Isabelle Lefebure. She began by providing a brief history of Lydia Courteille. “In the beginning Ms. Courteille was an antique jeweler. She owned a shop for 20 years. And after that, she began creating her own jewels. She is known for her collection of extraordinary jewelry.”
Ms. Courteille is known as a preeminent collector of antique jewelry. Her shop includes both her designs as well as the antique baubles she’s acquired from her world travels. She is also educated in gemology, which speaks to the quality of stones found in her shop.
Ms. Lefebure took out individual pieces from the display cases, cupping them in her palm, as though each was a butterfly that might fly away. She continued, “Ms. Courteille is influenced by the past but she also makes other creations...”
Just then, Ms. Courteille interrupted the interview and began speaking to Ms. Lefebure in French. What they didn’t know was that my friend could understand them. A quick summary: Ms. Courteille felt I had sufficient information. The interview was now over.

-Tami Mnoian

http://www.lydiacourteille.com/

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