Research

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.