Son of Jean Vendome, one of the most influential jewellers in France, who retired four years ago, leaving him some faithful clients and the taste of applying precious metal and stones to common, found materials, using high craftsmanship, Thierry Vendome said about his work:
"To me, that is taking the idea of Haute Joaillerie and turning it on its head".
"My work is about chaos and showing the beauty in it", he explained, about his jewels made with original materials, coarse textures and free flowing designs", and added:
"I experiment with objects found in nature and combinations of ‘wild’ materials and precious ones”.
In his boutique in Paris, you can see pieces of rusted metal found in the dunes of Normandy set with diamonds and opals and made into breathtaking and beautiful jewels. Driftwood picked up on a beach is matched with a piece of coral and diamonds to make a pendant. A slab of obsidian found along a mountain road on a trip to Armenia is transformed into a diamond-set pin.
"Natural materials exude a kind of power, but some of that force is lost as you reduce objects in size to make jewelry, to compensate for that loss, I use an unexpected combination of materials."
Thierry Vendome creates an estimated 350 pieces a year, all unique or limited editions. He makes all his pieces entirely by hand, himself, except for the stone-setting.
