Jewelers routes

09 November 2018

Frédérique Mattei’s necklace store

Her brand-new micro boutique is a showcase for Frédérique Mattei’s oversized necklaces: assemblages of components gathered from all over the world.

 

 

“I don’t design, I don’t programme anything: the way I create my necklaces is more like automatic writing,” she says.

 

Every century and culture

Whenever she travels or meets new people, she has always accumulated pieces, including a plethora of beads from Bohemia, Central Asia, Iran and first-century Rome. Her drawers and boxes also contain spherical chandelier shades in 19thcentury Daum crystal or 1950s silk thread (created for a Jacques Fath fashion show), while a component for a pair of earrings from southern Tamil Nadu mingles happily with branches of coral, Tibetan brass plaques and turquoises.

 

The Seventies influence

Her necklaces are decidedly imbued with a 1970s feel: the spirit of Saint Laurent, the jewelry designed by Loulou de la Falaise and the Talitha Getty look. “I love that period and the style of clothes my mother wore – double-breasted jackets, trousers tucked into boots. I’ve always dressed like that, “ she says.

 

Necklaces as go-betweens

With zoomorphic beads, ancient items, crystal rings and more, each necklace creates a dialogue between cultures and periods arising from a natural affinity that is never forced. If they already contain a hole or a ring, she can put pieces together. “I never alter their physical integrity,” she says. For, as an admirer of Edgar Morin, Frédérique Mattei never sees a component without its context and associations.

 

Frédérique Mattei 27 rue de Varenne – 75007 Paris

Most popular articles

10 must-see stones at the Mineralogy Museum of Mines Paris - PSL

This charming museum was created at the end of the 18th century by scientists from the École des Mines. Today, it also delights aesthetes and jewelry...

All aboard for "Peru - A golden heritage » with Carole Fraresso and Aracari Travel

This exclusive 12-day jewelry itinerary has been developed by Carole Fraresso, a doctor of archaeomaterials, specialist in Andean goldsmithing and creator...

In Toyokoro, the Jewelry Ice Beach

On this beach in Otsu, Hokkaido, shards of ice glisten in the sunlight like precious stones.

Place Vendôme: the photo collection of jeweler Lorenz Bäumer

Exactly 30 years ago, Lorenz Bäumer launched his company and set up shop on Place Vendôme. At the same time, he began a collection of photos dedicated to...

Schmuckmuseum Pforzheim: Art Nouveau jewelry – a collection within a collection

You have to go back to the origins of the Schmuckmuseum Pforzheim’s collection to understand the great richness of this section dedicated to Art Nouveau.

The Lalique Museum, the artist’s glass universe

650 objects, including about sixty beautiful pieces of jewelry, give visitors a rich insight into the growing importance of glass in the work of René Lalique.