On the occasion of its 400th anniversary, Maison Mellerio dits Meller celebrates this exceptional anniversary with the new “Médicis” collection, created in tribute to Queen Marie de Médicis, who granted privileges to the Mellerios on October 10, 1613.
400 years ago, Marie de Médicis, Queen of France, granted privileges to the Mellerios by royal decree, thus giving birth to what would become the oldest dynasty of jewelers.
Today, MELLERIO dits MELLER celebrates this remarkable anniversary by creating an Haute Joaillerie collection in which each piece is a technical and stylistic innovation in its own right.
Drawing on its exceptional archives and its own collection of precious stones assembled by several generations of Mellerio, the Joaillier de la rue de la Paix takes up this unusual challenge and calls on a particular signature, thus reviving its own tradition of collaborating with the finest designers and craftsmen of its time. After Lalique and Falize, MELLERIO dits MELLER invites Edéenne
to imagine this rare and singular collection.
Marie de Médicis
A woman of many facets in a previous life, Edéenne discovered her vocation as a jeweller a few years ago during a dive in the waters of Lake Maggiore, a stone’s throw from the Mellerio cradle… Since then, the poetry and refinement of her style, her expertise and her talent for innovation have enabled her to make her mark in the Court of art jewellers. Her constant desire to translate emotion and tell a story with her jewelry resonates
with the world of MELLERIO dits MELLER.
When she met Olivier Mellerio, it was undoubtedly predestined, and love at first sight between the Rue de la Paix institution and the jeweller was immediate. She was overwhelmed when she discovered the House’s archives and the orders placed by the Queens that are recorded there. Inspired by
the modernity of Marie de Médicis’ personality, her hand “was instantly inspired” to design the collection that MELLERIO dits MELLER wished to create as a tribute to her first royal client.
Marie de Médicis, a contemporary queen
Behind the image of a strong woman with an assertive character, Marie de Médicis reveals a personality of unprecedented richness: born into the most refined family in Europe, she grew up in Florence surrounded by all that was most beautiful and precious in the world.
She was to become a great patron of the arts, commissioning Rubens to paint his greatest work, developing court balls and calling on the greatest Italian artists to decorate the Louvre and create the Palais du Luxembourg. She was as much a loving and faithful wife as a great seductress, and was as keen on business and politics as she was on fashion. But above all, Marie de Médicis had an immoderate passion for jewels, especially diamonds and pearls, of which she became the world’s greatest collector. She knew how to cut precious stones herself, and personally chose and designed her jewelry. She displayed them on her hair, neck and body, wearing them like garments, sewn into
her dresses, which were only there to show them off. Edéenne, fascinated by this unique way of wearing jewels and by the artistic richness of MELLERIO dits MELLER, whose innovations have earned him numerous distinctions, designs every piece in the Médicis Collection for women who love jewels. The result is feminine, fluid and sensual jewels whose boldness and grace stand out in an unprecedented way.
A skin-deep collection
The jewels in the Médicis Collection embrace the body, like this unexpected necklace that wraps around the neck like a man’s hand caressing it, this brooch that clings to the hollow of the breasts, this negligee that sits on the stomach, these rings that run over the fingers, or these openwork motifs that let the skin glimpse…
Each of them takes a different approach to the lily, a flower that Mellerio had never before interpreted, despite the countless jewelry creations featuring flowers in its archives, but which was an obvious choice for this collection. The lily that is picked and used to compose a bouquet, the lily that springs from the bud, or a more stylized and refined version.
The Haute Joaillerie pieces embody MELLERIO’s tradition of innovation: a tiara that can be transformed into a necklace (emblematic of its expertise since the 19th century); a corsage train with surprising dimensions, a necklace of a new kind.
Cette publication est également disponible en : Français (French)
