L’ÉCOLE School of Jewelry Arts was founded in 2012 at Place Vendôme in Paris with the support of Van Cleef & Arpels. Since then, it has become the only educational and cultural institution in the world to open the doors of the jewelry world to the general public, welcoming all who are eager to learn regardless of age or experience. To date, more than 30,000 people from over 40 countries around the world have had the opportunity to learn about jewelry in all its depth and breadth.
Based out of Paris and Hong Kong, L’ÉCOLE is also a school that travels around the world. In 2013, a L’ÉCOLE Traveling School opened for the first time outside of France in Japan. Various courses, interactive lectures and an exhibition followed, and L’ÉCOLE returned to Tokyo in 2019. In 2023, the 10th anniversary of the opening of the first school in Japan, L’ÉCOLE returned to Tokyo once more.
“L'ÉCOLE Special Japanese Courses” had been offered at the Gaien campus of Kyoto University of the Arts for two weeks from February 24 to March 10, 2023.
The programs offered are all in line with those at the main school in Paris, with lectures led by the school's instructors and artisans who are experts in their fields.
The venue interior were designed by leading Japanese architect Sosuke Fujimoto. All the furniture and decorations that create the refined spaces that embody the L'ÉCOLE philosophy were made from renewable wood for new uses, in line with L'ÉCOLE’s commitment to sustainable practices.
In addition to courses from categories of "Art History of Jewelry", "The Universe of Gemstones", "Savoir-Faire", the "Workshops for Young People" aimed at ages 6 to 16 are also offered as well as the "Evening Conversations" that begins with a cocktail reception in the salon, inviting the audience into a world of learning in a relaxed atmosphere.
Instructors include gemologists, art historians, master jewelers, setters, designers, modelers, lacquer artists, enamelers, and other experts of the field.
