A few weeks back The Eye of Jewelry unfolded the story of Sophie Mizrahi who resurected her family brand: John Rubel. Now is the time to present the first collection of this new-old brand: VIES de BOHEME – 18 pieces made from scratch but inspired by the original drawings of her great-grand-uncles. Just breath-taking !
Sophie Mizrahi-Rubel was born and raised in the jewelry industry. She started her career designing for brands such as Van Cleef and Arpels, Chaumet or Boucheron. Then learned about business developement at Fred, Cartier and Mauboussin, but after 15 years, Mizrahi wanted a new challenge. She visited the family house and did a little dig-in a wooden trunk in the haddick she knew about. Dozens of original jewelry designs signed by les Frères Rubel- her great-grand uncles were stacked in this treasure trunk. She just could not leave those designs behind, she had to do something with them, or least inspired by them. That’s when she got the idea !
What came next ?
I knew it was a very ambitious project, very challenging and completely crazy specially considering the market and the fact that I was about to launch a new high-jewelry brand. I spent 3 years working on the project including one full year thinking about how I wanted to position the re-birth of JOHN RUBEL on the market.
So, what is the positioning of the brand ?
Even though the brand JOHN RUBEL isn’t very popular, it is a respected brand. I wanted to keep the DNA of the brand, the values and the creativity my uncles where known for. To launch or re-launch a high jewelry brand you need outrageous amounts of money, which is why we (my partner and I) decided not to open a store but an office with private appointments only… Place Vendôme obviously. In 2015, John Rubel is high end, exclusif and confidential.
Timeline ?
I found the drawings. I spent a lot of time studying, analyzing, looking at the details. With the help of Christies’, Sotheby’s and Bohmans I gathered a maximum of original content including texts and designs in order to launch a book telling the story of the Rubel Brothers.I decided to re-launch the brand, keep the name, change just a detail of the original logo where I remove the « C. » and tatoo it on my forearm. I design the collection from scratch with one wish : no reproduction of an original design. It took me 18 months to imagine new models, get new ideas, take inspiration from the original.
To use a very marketing term, I had to dive deep into the DNA of the brand to come up with a new creative collection that would go way above just a new high jewelry collection. John Rubel stopped in 1955, but we are in 2015, and even though some pieces are still stunning from that period, we need contemporary jewelry to wear !
Why does the collection pay tribute to women?
The name of the collection is Vies de Boheme and pays tribute to emblematic women of the 20th century who lived their passion. They dared, they were not afraid, fully assumed who they were. From Amelia Earhart who was an American Aviation pioneer who disapeared into the Pacific with her plane, to Sarah Bernhardt who sang , Louise Brooks who or George Bizet who wrote about .
The collection is an hommage to those brave women.
Vies de Boheme has 18 pieces including some unique pieces such as the Divine ring mounted with a 4.03 carats ruby from Mozambique or the Blue Carmen Ring where a 13 carats unheated sapphire from Ceylan is set with diamonds on white gold and black rhodium.
Vies de Boheme by John Rubel is not just another high-jewelry brand. And why is that ?
Just because it becomes wearable high jewelry where the ostentatious stones and volumes we normally have within high jewelry pieces now disapear. The stones are carefully selected all natural and unheated. There is a real work put behing each design where volontarily the stones are set within a minimum amount of metal. Not only the pieces are timeless but they are creatively modern… to the point that you want to wear them with a pair of jeans and even sneakers.
John Rubel is the modern transformation of jewelry and a jewelry that has to be worn !
Part of the collection will be showcased in Courchevel, at Monsieur Marceau – Rue du Rocher in addition to private appointments available at the showroom Place Vendôme.
