At the end of the 19th century, René Lalique (1860-1945) was considered l’inventeur du bijou moderne. As a great innovator of modern jewelry, he combined precious stones with inexpensive materials such as horn, mother-of-pearl, and window enamel. This enabled him to better imitate the colors and reflections found in nature. Whereas during the Belle Époque, material value was still paramount, from then on, it was all about emotional value, mysticism, and symbolism.

His jewelry excelled not only in originality but also in craftsmanship. Lalique was the sensation at the 1900 World's Fair in Paris, which made him world famous overnight.  The jewelry that Lalique designed during the Art Nouveau period (circa 1890-1914) was already extremely expensive at the time and exclusively reserved for a small group of very wealthy people.

This exclusive clientele included the famous actress Sarah Bernhardt (1844-1923) and the wealthy Armenian businessman Calouste Sarkis Gulbenkian (1868-1955). Many of the Art Nouveau jewels created by René Lalique have been scattered around the world over time and are now in leading museums, private collections, and the international art trade.

The new exhibition places Lalique in a broader context and also showcases exceptional jewellery by his contemporaries, such as Léopold Gautrait, Lucien Gaillard, Philippe Wolfers, Suzanne Belperron, Georges Fouquet and Piel Frères. Together, they demonstrate how a generation of artists broke with tradition and introduced a new, expressive design language. Each object tells a story of creativity, daring and technical perfection.