Research

Above all, a place for the promotion and transmission of jewelry culture, through classes, conferences, exhibitions, and publications, L’ÉCOLE, School of Jewelry Arts is also, thanks to research, a place for the development and consolidation of jewelry knowledge.

The founding in 2017 of a research department has enabled L’ÉCOLE to inaugurate a number of ambitious projects and to explore fields of knowledge that are little known or unknown. A dozen research programs have been initiated since 2017 on subjects as varied as the pearl trade between the Middle East and France in the early 20th century, the history of jewelry drawing from the Renaissance to the present day, the jewels of the Comédie-Française, jewelry from the 1960s to 1980, and the links between jewelry and literature. The fruit of this research has led to the creation of new courses, exhibitions, and even publications.

This department, dedicated to research, also oversees and guarantees the rigor of the educational content developed and taught at L’ÉCOLE, in all its forms. It ensures that these are accurate, up-to-date, and relevant.

Furthermore, links have been forged with major institutions such as the Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle (National Museum of Natural History) and the Comédie-Française around joint research projects, culminating in publications and/or exhibitions. Ties with various universities have not been overlooked either. L’ÉCOLE, School of Jewelry Arts has been supporting university research for several years: it financed a doctoral thesis for three years, devoted to Jean-Baptiste Tavernier (1605-1689), and in 2019, created scholarships intended to help students doing research-based Master’s, working on jewelry-related topics, whether in the domains of art history or gemology. This scholarship program has become an annual event, and they are offered every year on the basis of a competition.

In order to promote research and disseminate the results, L’ÉCOLE regularly organizes study days: “Young researchers” (2019 and 2021), “The geopolitics of gems” (2020), “Jewelry and abstraction amongst 20th-century artists and creators” (2021, at the Centre Pompidou and in connection with the Elles font l’abstraction exhibition). These study days allow L’ÉCOLE to broach contemporary issues, in accordance with its mission to explore the subject of jewelry in a broad and multidisciplinary way, with a dual perspective focused on both the past and the future. These study events are intended to foster dialogue and spark encounters, and like L’ÉCOLE, School of Jewelry Arts, to become a space of sharing and exchange.

Recent Activities

Ornement de Corsage français_milieu XVIIIe siècle_Collection L'École des Arts Joailliers. Photo Benjamin Chelly (1

Proceedings of the Study Day “Young Researchers” – 1st edition (2019)

Supervised by Guillaume Glorieux, these proceedings brings together the contributions of young researchers in Jewelry History at the 2019 Study Day.

Émaux de plique, Paris, début du XIVe siècle. New York, The Metropolitan.jpg

Proceedings of the Collège de France – 1st edition

Under the direction of Francesco Solinas, Marie-Laure Cassius-Duranton, Guillaume Glorieux

Répertoire intégral des fabricants sur le site de L'Ecole.jpg

Encyclopedia of Theatrical and Imitation Jewelry-Makers in 19th-Century Paris

This encyclopedia lists all of the jewelers in nineteenth-century Paris who crafted jewelry worn by theater performers.

HD BOURSE DE MASTER 2023 ©Pauline de Courrèges_67.jpg

Scholarship Laureats - Nov 2023

Interviews with the laureats for Master’s Scholarships by L’ÉCOLE, November 2023 Edition

college-de-france-paris-exterior-view-sorbonne-university-250627715.jpg

Study Days - January 2023 Edition

“Precious Ornaments”

Study Days organized by L’ÉCOLE, School of Jewelry Arts, with the support of Van Cleef & Arpels and the Collège de France on January 26th and 27th 2023.