Excellence for Creation
The ultra-confidential world of high jewelry is supported by valuable ancestral craftsmanship. Valérie Messika has successfully entered this exclusive domain, launching a Maison which brims with technical innovation with ease, tradition and modernity.
Gouaché
The first stage in the development of a piece of Fine Jewellery requires around a hundred sketches before the design is approved for modeling. A gouache is then created by an expert with a keen eye and a steady hand. This provides a concrete vision of the final creation and acts as a bridge between the designer and the jeweler.
Fabrication
The transition from the creative idea to reality is a path that is rarely clear or mapped out in advance. This process involves multiple conversations and much research and deliberation with the workshop. Having produced a variety of models, the jeweller then constructs the various elements which will form the structure of the jewel (springs, chatons, stones, settings and more).
Assembly
The jeweler meticulously assembles the various metal pieces in order to give form to the various components of the jewel’s structure.
The drawing finally comes to life, the curves take form and the harmonious architecture is revealed. The jeweler has carried out almost 200 hours of work at this stage of manufacture.
Soldering
The jeweler meticulously finishes the assembly of the final structure with a welding torch, fixing the jewel’s mount into place whilst making sure to retain its flexibility. This structure will then house the various carefully-cut stones, giving life to a work of perfect proportions. Outstanding expertise forged in the workshops of the Maison, constantly enriched to give life to the impossible.
Polishing
The delicate operation of polishing is performed at several stages during the manufacture of the jewel. This process, carried out several times before and after setting, helps to reveal the full splendor of the queen of stones.
The skillful hands of the polisher will spend more than 50 hours on a custom finish, giving the desired mirror effect to the entire structure.
Setting
Sculpting the material, cutting and finishing the metal, adjusting the stones… the setter repeatedly carries out these precise operations to give each piece of Fine Jewellery its unique character. The art of setting employs a variety of techniques to enhance the beauty of the diamonds and unveil the purity of their sparkle.
This final stage of manufacture requires more than 130 hours of work to set the 130 diamonds, resulting in a total of 500 hours of work for this exceptional piece.