French jeweler Lydia Courteille
French jeweler Lydia Courteille is a professional gemologist, globetrotter and scientist. She has been making jewellery since 1996 and for this relatively (for any jewelry brand) short period has established herself as one of the most innovative and daring jewellery designers in the world. Lydia Courteille adores Parisian glamour press: each of her jewelry collection causes a storm of emotions, always positive. The secret of success of Madame Courteille can be explained simply. This beautiful slim blonde started from collecting rare vintage jewelry, then founded her own jewelry studio, two steps from Place Vendome. She began creating unique, rare, mysterious, extraordinary jewels of high quality.
It seems that in the windows of her tiny shop exhibited jewelry for classical plays “La Comedie Francaise” – pins for hats, big buttons, clips for frills, pendants in the form of bows, golden masks with lorgnettes. Inside, the store is similar to the antique shops – faded blue with gold monograms woven drapes, creaky baroque furniture, floral smells of perfume, old and that special kind of semi-darkness that existed in the lighting of before-electricity era.
With prosperous and, let’s be honest, a very massive “art Vendome” Lydia Courteille has nothing in common. She tends to the old boudoir, strong and intentionally theatrical jewellery designs – in the spirit of Baroque or Rococo. She is also very close to Gothic. Actually, Lydia Kurt was one of the first who, after the 150-year hiatus, started making diamond jewelry in the style of “memento mori”. She also loves cameos – worn, old, weak-sighted portraits, bas-reliefs to which she gives the new gold oval frame.
Her main themes – strange insects, birds, fish, monkeys, dogs, crabs, lizards and flowers unknown to science. Her sacred metal – Rhodium gold, creating the impression of vintage, archaic material. Lydia Courteille loves onyx, coral, garnets, tourmalines, peridot, beryl, turquoise, jade, transparent rock crystal, white and brown diamonds, colored sapphires, opals. For creating jewelry she uses rare species of wood, so loved by jewelers of the first half of the XIX century, and then by the masters of Art Deco.
In short, all the jewelry by Lydia Courteille can be combined with the word “exotic”. In a sense, these things can be called “colonial goods”. But they came not from the mysterious and distant countries, but from France.
Lydia Courteille received awards in the United States and Hong Kong, including the prestigious “Award champion aesthetic Champions” in 2013. Each Lydia Courteille jewel makes fantasy a reality, from surrealist artworks brought to life in gold and enamel, to rock pools of opal glinting on the finger and cuffs of pink gemstone rabbits that evoke tumultuous Alice in Wonderland dreams.
