There are wines that are considered jewels. But there are also jewels made in symbiosis with the origin of the wine, the vine plant. But not only. The idea of combining tradition with jewelry comes from Grégoire Maret, a Swiss from Upper Valais, who created the Maison Pierre d’Alexis. The idea is really different from the usual: pieces of jewelry that contain a heart of ancient wood, made from vine stocks. The plant is transformed into an ingot to be worked, modeled and covered with precious metal, in some cases with the addition of gems.
The result is called Cep de Coeur, the first collection of pendants made from a vine stock, produced in a limited number. An idea born in 2019, during an exhibition on the theme of the vine plant. The designer, who is a graduate of the École Technique de la Vallée de Joux, decided to transform the vine stock into a precious material. But, in reality, reaching the goal was not easy. To do this, he sought help from the Bernese University of Applied Sciences in Biel, where a team was working on a process to densify wood for use as a building material. The log is trimmed, impregnated with a synthetic resin, heated to a high temperature and compressed. The result is small blocks of about three centimeters. At that point the material is solid like a stone and can be worked like a jewel.
