Etienne Perret's tagline is "nobody treats diamonds better," and there is some real truth to that double meaning.
In his Camden Harbor studio in Maine, multiple award-winning jewelry designer Perret is busy creating some of the more graceful, playful and dynamic pieces of wearable art available to women today. His use of color treated diamonds is careful and elegant; his attention to detail exquisite.
My mother and I have been very familiar with Mr. Perret's work over the years as both customers and admirers, and it was with much excitement that I learned recently that he was a new reader of The Bling Blog. We struck up an email conversation and discovered that we are like-minded with regard to issues of quality, style and the high esteem in which a jeweler must hold his or her customer, specifically women.
A quick look at Etienne Perret's work reveals an abundant love for his craft, for women and for the concept of timeless, yet modern design. Delving a bit more deeply with him in conversation, you will be as delighted as I was by his depth of understanding of what women want, by his love of family and by his unfettered adoration of his art.
Enjoy!
What is your background and training?
I have been making jewelry for 35 years, WOW! That makes me an
old man, funny I don't feel like an old man. I started making jewelry
for my high school sweetheart. My father had a shop that we worked in
making all sorts of arts and crafts projects. For some reason he had a
piece of silver around, that he let me have to make her a ring and
bracelet. I found that it was a great way to win points with the
ladies. Making jewelry was easy for me and women like jewelry.
I was a
forestry student at the University of Vermont back in the 1970s and
made jewelry on the side which I then sold at the girl's dormitories and
later at the local craft fairs. In 1975 I dropped out of school to
start a small jewelry store in Camden, Maine. It was a great little
store, however I felt like I was in a vacuum and needed to learn more
quickly so I went to the
Rhode Island School of Design where I got my
Bachelor of Fine Arts in Jewelry and Sculpture in 1978.
The jewelry
design thing seemed to be under control, but I needed to know about the
gemstones I was working with. Closing the store was not a possibility
so I got my Graduate Gemologist degree from
GIA by correspondence. It
would have been great to have taken the classes in California, but I
could not leave my growing business. Since then I have taken and taught
at places like the
Revere Academy in San Francisco.
How did you know you wanted to be a jewelry designer?
I became a jewelry designer by default. It seems that nothing was
more enjoyable in my life than sitting down at the bench to make my own
jewelry designs. There is something very special and intimate about
making a piece of jewelry that a woman wears right on her body. It
makes me feel good having designed a piece of jewelry that enhances the
look and presence of a woman.
Who/what are your design and style influences?
Describe Etienne Perret's niche and style.
My niche is one created out of being myself versus what the
market is screaming for. I make the designs I want to using the
materials that I love. Then I go about pricing what I make and finding
a way to sell what I make so that I can buy more materials to make more
jewelry. Unfortunately the gold and diamonds are an expensive habit to
be dealing with. I have worked hard to keep my overhead low so that I
am not forced to make the compromises many other designers are forced
to make.
What makes you unique?
We are all unique if we allow our selves to be so. Unfortunately
most people are afraid to be themselves. I believe that I am unique in
that I will try designs in platinum with diamonds, that most people
would only dare to do in stainless steel and rhinestones. If I believe
in my ideas then I will make the pieces using the very best in
materials.
What are your favorite materials?
My favorite material to work in as a jeweler is 18kt yellow gold.
It is just right in its ability to hold a form, its workability, the
ability to take a polish. It is easy to see while you work on it. Feels
good in your hand and of course it compliments the color of most
woman's skin wonderfully. Platinum is an amazing metal to work with in
building pieces for white diamonds. It gives the pieces a very clean,
cold, brilliant look. There are so many wonderful materials, I can go on forever, and that is without mentioning all the amazing gemstones.
What materials would you like to see come back in style?
I would like to see more 18kt rose gold being used. It has such a
history in jewelry. For some women it is a better color than yellow
gold. I just do not get it why everybody always wants to wear what
their friends are wearing.
You seem to really embrace the use of color, in particular,
the use of colored diamonds. I know you use irradiated
(color treated) diamonds, why is this preferable for your purposes?
I use color treated diamonds because I love the playfulness of
color without sacrificing the durability and brilliance of diamonds.
Many of my designs need multiples of diamonds all the same color. This
would be very difficult with natural color diamonds. Most of designs
use bright intense colored diamonds, these often do not exist in
natural color diamonds. Most of my designs are meant to be worn by real
people and not gem collectors. Natural color diamonds are so rare and
expensive most sit in vaults or in museums. I want to make colored
diamond jewelry that is worn by women in the scope of their normal
life.
What are some of your favorite pieces in your current collection?
I am having fun right now with the colored diamond rainbow pieces. I have made a collection of channel bands and pendants using the
rainbow colors. There is so much more to explore in that direction. The
most exciting designs are those that still allow me to go on designing
within that concept.
(note: the colored diamond rainbow pieces show are done in 18kt rose or yellow gold, and platinum)
Your all-time favorite piece of jewelry?
My Madonna pearl ring is one of my all-time favorites.
Named after
the Madonna the ultimate mother with child, and not the actress.
(note: the Madonna pearl ring is designed with a large Tahitian pearl and set in platinum with pavé diamonds)
If you could design for any celebrity, who would it be?
I think the look of
Bai Ling is perfect for my jewelry. I have not
seen her movies nor have I actually met her. However, I think her
presence is very interesting and would show off my jewelry wonderfully.
Who else, besides you, is making beautiful jewelry?
Jordan Schlanger is such a nice guy and his work is interesting.
Michael Good has made some wonderful sculptural pieces. I met Michael back in the late 70s. He was working in his
unheated garage making these really neat hollow silver earrings. At the
time I had a large studio, a full service jewelry store and a credit line
with my gold refiner. I suggested to Michael that he come work with me and focus on his
designing. The design concept was hot so I offered to sell everything
he could make, and we were off and running. The business grew very
nicely to the point were his wife wanted to manage it. It was time for
me to re-focus on designing my own collection again.
What do you think of so-called "celebrity" jewelers and celebrities who put their names on jewelry collections?
I think celebrities have to make their money selling their souls.
That is their business. Unfortunately the general public knows so
little that the media, PR firms and advertising world can lead them to
some rather miserable jewelry endorsed by celebrities.
What is your impression of this latest bit of ground-breaking research conducted by the Oxygen Network?
If you ask a woman if she would rather have a television where the
family can all get together, I think she will choose that over another
piece of diamond jewelry. If, however, you ask a woman if she would ever
give up the wonderful diamond ring that was given to her by her husband
while they were on vacation in Paris for their 10th wedding
anniversary, she would fight you tooth and nail.
Do you have any advice for fledgling young jewelers?
My advice is do not do it in the United States. Move to China,
Bali or India where the labor costs are much lower. Jewelry is such a
labor intensive endeavor that it has become too difficult to do here
today. I am fortunate I started when things were different and I am now
working with a multi-million dollar inventory that is out in stores
around the United States and Europe.
Many of my readers are eco-conscious and very informed and interested in the topics of
sustainable resources. There is one reader/friend in particular who
just completed her benchwork courses at the Revere Academy, and I know she'll
appreciate your perspective.
To that end, what is your opinion of the "No Dirty Gold" campaign?That is a tough one. I believe it takes careful thought. To me it
is much the same as whether one choose to be a vegetarian or eat the
meat of animals.
First of all, I consider the world we live in to be very special. I believe it is best to leave the place we occupy a better place after
we have passed through it. It is our world and we better take care of
it. The act of extracting the raw materials from the ground to create
jewelry is very detrimental to the environment. There are tons of earth
mined for each ounce of gold or carat of diamond rough. The mining is
not something we should take lightly.
On a positive note we in the
jewelry industry have been leaders in recycling for centuries. Very
little of the gold that has been mine through history is not still in
use today. The ring that I made yesterday may well have been made from
gold worn by several women throughout history.
I met a very nice man at the JCK show who only use eco-friendly
recycled gold. A nice thought, however there was a day when that gold
was actually dug from the ground. It just seems to me to be hard to know
how and where the gold I use was mined. To me the important part is to
make beautiful jewelry that will have special meaning to someone.
Something that they will be able to wear for the rest of their lives.
I
am most concerned with the preponderance of disposable jewelry being
made today. People go to the mall buying stuff to satisfy a need to
consume. Just imagine the average piece of gold jewelry sold last year
in the USA was less that $70.00.
And what about the push for consumers to avoid the "conflict diamonds" and for that matter, even all diamonds no matter what?
Diamonds are a slightly different issue. Here are a few points I would like to make:
1. The color treatment of off-white diamonds allows the jewelry
industry to use diamonds that in the past have been used for industrial
purposes. In this way the we are better using the diamonds that have
been mined from the huge holes in the ground.
2. Synthetic diamonds are beginning to come on the market. Gemesis
and other high tech companies are making beautiful colored diamonds in
laboratories. For every diamond that is man made a mined diamond will
not need to be extracted from the ground.
3. Thousands of African men make a good living working in the
diamond mines, hundreds of thousands of Indians make a dependable
living cutting diamonds. Millions of people around the world are
involved in the sale of diamonds. If we were to eliminate diamonds
from the economy it would certainly change the lives of many many
people.
4. In regards to conflict diamonds it seems to me there are always
two sides to any argument. The guys that want to control the mines
say rebels are stealing diamonds are hurting the country and the
government. The rebels who do not have the power say that the corrupt
government officials are using the money from the diamonds to support
the illegal oppressive government. Both have good and bad points.
Unfortunately many people are being killed in the fight for the wealth
that diamonds could have brought them. The same problem exists for
other commodities such as oil, copper, forestry products, etc.
Pamela Anderson may be the modern-day Brigitte Bardot, however I am much more interested in finding the modern-day Sophia Loren.
Touché!
If you were to give Mrs. Perret a gift today, what would she want?
My nearly perfect wife Connie has two rings that she wears every
day. The ring I made when I first met her and her wedding ring. She
wants no more.
The perfect gift for her is a weekend in our home on the
coast of Maine with her children and grandchildren.
It is funny how
when you spend your life making things they lose their meaning
and it is other values that become important.
(all photos property of Etienne Perret, and used with his permission)
