Reviving a house with two hundred years of history? This is the daring challenge that Camille and Damien Vever took on in June 2021. Less than a year later, with the opening of a new space at Printemps, the challenge has been met with flying colors.
Jeweler since 1821
Founded in 1821 by Pierre-Paul Vever, the jewelry house was then a simple jewelry store located in Metz. Geopolitical considerations mixed up things, and at the end of the 1870 war, his eldest son Ernest left his native city to settle in Paris. It was at this point that the jeweler established his shop at 19 rue de la Paix, in the most prestigious street of the capital. As a skilled designer, his creations attracted attention and word-of-mouth contributed to his growing success, until he became President of the Chambre syndicale de bijouterie, joaillerie, orfèvrerie. In 1881, he left the business to his sons Paul and Henri, two complementary talents who would raise the brand to the top. Awarded four prizes at the Universal Exhibitions in Paris (1889 and 1900) and Brussels (1897), as well as at the Franco-British exhibition in London in 1908, Vever established himself as the representative of the art nouveau movement. The creations, all curves and asymmetry, which sublimate nature and femininity, seduce a high-flying clientele composed of Tsar Alexander III, the Shah of Persia, and major American industrialists. A visionary jeweler, Vever does not hesitate to use unexpected materials such as horn, ivory, enamels and hard stones to push the limits of his creative palette.
A new era
Although the company went out of business in 1982, the family history lives on through the transmission of jewelry. It was on the occasion of her 16th birthday, when Camille received a piece of jewelry signed Vever, that she felt the need to relaunch the company. A few years later, Camille and her twin brother Damien decided to wake up The Sleeping Beauty. For this, the 7th generation representatives surround themselves with experts and a renowned artistic director, Sandrine de Laage. Together, they established the markers of what VEVER should be in 2021: an ethical, audacious and creative jeweler. The first company with a mission in the jewelry sector, Vever selects recycled gold, ivory of vegetable origin and synthetic diamonds created in laboratory for its creations. These are strong choices, coupled with the choice of 100% French manufacturing.
Ginkgo, Elixir, The new heroines
The theme of nature has been present since its creation and continues to inspire the house. The Gingko flower, a plant symbolizing longevity in the Far East, gave Sandrine de Laage the idea of a delicate and powerful reinterpretation. While the high jewelry version of the flower is adorned with 279 synthetic diamonds, its jewelry equivalent is covered with recycled satin-finished gold, which unfolds into a corolla. In its center, three synthetic diamond buds are held by a pistil with five claws: this is the Vever signature setting. In a more contemporary style, the Elixir line borrows its sinusoidal curves from Art Nouveau to create pieces with asymmetrical lines. Like golden vines punctuated with diamonds, each of the pieces in the collection wraps around the finger, wrist, or ear, playing on the openings to create surprise. Poetic and delicate pieces, which have no other desire than to sublimate the woman by reconnecting with nature. A successful bet.
