The collections by the Parisian jeweler Mathon: gold, diamonds and colored lacquers ♦ ︎
It seems like a story you can read in the books of George Simenon, except that in this case there are no crimes or even the commissioner Maigret. There is, however, Paris. In a courtyard of a classic Parisian palace, a stone’s throw from the Palais, a goldsmith’s workshop was opened in 1931. It is easy to imagine the laborious work of the Mathons, perhaps with a baguette ready for lunch that comes out of the bag.
The breakthrough took place in the seventies, when Roger Mathon took over his uncle’s study and started working for the great Parisian jewelers. In short, the laboratory acquires skills and produces quality pieces. In 1997, the activity took off with Frédéric Mathon, who took the lead and expanded his gaze beyond the Parisian skyline. Among other things, between 1994 and 1996 Frédéric Mathon is also president of the Ecole de la Bijouterie and de la Joaillerie of rue du Louvre and in 2005 he was named President of BJOP, the goldsmith’s union founded in 1960. In addition to creating very elaborate pieces, Mathon today also designs precious, but more modern collections. As one of the latest productions, the Verdeau line, where gold and diamonds are accompanied by the bright colors of lacquer. Almost a tribute to abstract painting of the 1930s.
The Passage collection, on the other hand, is inspired by Parisian covered passages, such as La La Galerie Vivienne. The collection takes up the Art Deco motif of the Manhattan collection, created by Catherine Mathon in 2007. The Vivienne ring, for example, is composed as a pavé with mother-of-pearl contrasting with turquoise, with pyrite flakes instructed in lapis lazuli and diamonds, such as the sky that appears through the vault of the Vivienne Passage when you look up.