Le marché de la joaillerie connaît un recul de ventes (de l’ordre de 12% pour l’année 2009 d’après la dernière étude publiée par Bain) et une crise de valeurs liée à l’émergence de nouveaux comportements de consommation.

Ce marché, estimé à 100 Mds de $ pour 2009 au niveau mondial et à 3,6 Mds € pour la France (chiffres Bain), voit apparaître aujourd’hui, par l’intermédiaire de deux stratégies marketing différentes des initiatives qui « bousculent » , « cassent », « démocratisent » un milieu d’ordinaire feutré, discret, traditionnel, avec des codes bien définis.

Décryptage de deux stratégies marketing et mise en perspective de ces initiatives.
Avec un positionnement et une stratégie marketing en décalage total avec les codes de la joaillerie, Mauboussin souhaite démocratiser le secteur de la joaillerie en rendant accessible ses collections au plus grand nombre. Le « concept de base est de vendre un produit très créatif et émotionnel à un prix abordable» selon Alain Némarq. Il veut devenir le joaillier de mode, le joaillier accessible et pour tous. Avec un référentiel sur le plaisir, le coup de cœur, l’achat impulsif, il rajeunit sa cible et vise principalement les femmes.

Mauboussin a alors appliqué la rupture sur l’ensemble du mix produit :

- l’offre produit : collections calquées sur les collections de prêt à porter, noms utilisés très jeunes, dynamiques (Gueule d’amour, Chance of Love, Tu es le sel de ma vie, Etoile Marine, Amour de ma vie, Love my Love, Fou de toi), tailles et couleurs de pierre différentes, design plus facile et abordable.

- Le prix : avec une bague à partir de 550€ dans la collection « Tu es le sel de ma vie » pour un diamant de 0,15 carats, les prix sont accessibles pour la majorité et en rupture totale avec les repères de la joaillerie. Les marges sont elles aussi différentes puisque de 15 à 20% inférieures à celles normalement pratiquées dans la profession.

Boutique Mauboussin

- La distribution ne rompt pas tant dans le choix du circuit mais surtout dans le design des boutiques qui se veut résolument moderne, proche, ouvert, dynamique avec des codes couleurs bouleversés (noir et blanc et des touches de couleurs). Le choix du magasin implanté sur les Champs Elysées n’est pas non plus anodin car il cohabite avec les chaînes de fast-food sur l’une des avenues les plus influentes et affluentes.

Publicité metro Mauboussin

- La communication : avec l’affichage dès 2004, du prix de ses produits sur ses campagnes de communication, Mauboussin créée en 2008 la stupeur dans le secteur en faisant « descendre la joaillerie dans la rue » avec une campagne dans le métro parisien.

Il lance également une campagne TV (2007) et consacre dorénavant 17% de son chiffre d’affaires dans la publicité. Mauboussin décide donc d’utiliser les codes de la « grande consommation » dans sa stratégie de communication.

Il organise également des événements (petits-déjeuners avec beignets, collection spéciale Roland Garros, diamants de 0,1 carats offerts à 5000 japonais) qui par leur construction rompent avec les animations de relations presse et publiques ordinairement organisées.

Fabergé fonde de son côté, sa stratégie sur la renaissance d’une marque de luxe et son positionnement sur « l’expression contemporaine de l’esprit et des valeurs de Peter Carl Fabergé ». Il propose alors une stratégie marketing et un mix produit plus traditionnel.

Seul le choix du circuit de distribution exclusivement sur internet (www.faberge.com) bouscule radicalement les codes du secteur. Cette différentiation très forte apporte un niveau de service, de flexibilité et de proximité très cohérent avec la cible de sa clientèle.

photo site Faberge

Elle montre en outre une adaptation des outils technologiques et des techniques marketing à un milieu d’habitude sceptiques et suiveurs

En termes de résultats, l’objectif de Mauboussin paraît réalisé, en 2008, en effet, les ventes se sont montées à 30Ms d’€ en hausse de 7%, et ont été multipliées par 2,5, le chiffre d’affaires prévu pour 2009 est de 36Ms $ (alors que le marché global enregistre une baisse estimée de 12%). Il réalise en parallèle encore 1/3 de son chiffre d’affaires avec des bijoux de plus de 30 000€.

On le voit bien, ces deux stratégies sont différentes tant sur la volonté que sur la mise en place. Néanmoins, elles montrent toutes deux, une démarche innovante et qui bouscule un secteur d’habitude relativement peu novateur en stratégie marketing. Bien sûr, les risques sont énormes notamment pour la stratégie de Mauboussin entièrement consacrée à la démocratisation du luxe. En effet, qu’en est-il de l’image de la marque ? Comment gérer l’afflux d’un nouveau type de consommateurs (en particulier des femmes) et la présence d’une clientèle plus traditionnelle de la haute-joaillerie? Comment respecter l’image de la marque, fondée sur des décennies de réputation, de qualité avec deux offres si différentes ? Quelles seront les conséquences sur le long terme d’une telle stratégie ? Est-ce une stratégie de crise, propice en période troublée et de remise en cause ou est-ce une crise du luxe ?
Quant à Fabergé, le risque paraît moins fort, néanmoins, les clients fortunés prendront-ils le risque de faire un choix d’ordinaire très impliquant (temps, émotion, confort, service) sur internet ?
De même pour les confrères et concurrents, tous doivent rester attentifs à ces initiatives et veiller à ce que, sous prétexte de préserver l’essence du luxe, ils ne ratent pas le train de la modernisation du secteur.
Il est fort à parier que ces risques ont été pris en compte par les dirigeants et suivons de prêt ces deux marques afin de voir, avec le recul des années, si ces stratégies se sont avérées payantes.

Бижутерската къща Faberge, известна със своите уникални яйца, реши да се завърне отново на пазара. Faberge не са правили нови продукти от далечната 197 година и сега няма как да не привлекат внимание… това са си цели 92 години   Най-евтините бижута от новата колекция са на цена от $30 000, а средната цена е някъде около $200 000.  Скъпоценностите се предлагат само и единствено в онлайн магазина на Faberge – www.faberge.com – както и в магазина в Женева.

Източник: The NewsMarket

One in Five Tweets Are Free Brand Advertising (Mashable)
This news might actually sway some of the executives left who still fear the use of social media for business.

Leading Hotel Brands in a Lagging Economy (Hospitality Net)
While occupancy levels and revenues within the hotel industry have continued to sink through the first half of 2009, several hotel brands have been able to keep their heads above water.

Study Finds Social Networks Near Top of List for Media Buyers (BtoB Magazine)
A new study by the Center for Media Research found that 56% of media buyers plan to buy ads on social networks next year.

Faberge Asks Rich to Surf Web for $7 Million Brooches (Bloomberg)
Faberge, the jeweler that made gem- encrusted oversized eggs for Russia’s czars, says the quickest way to make money selling its $7 million brooches in a recession is to lure the wealthy into surfing the Web.

Conde Nast Execs to Make Big Cuts, Insiders Say (Advertsing Age)
The consultants from McKinsey & Co. may have wrapped up their summer-long review of Conde Nast, but the real work on how to rein in costs at the luxury magazine publisher is about to begin.

Faberge, the jeweler that made gem- encrusted oversized eggs for Russia’s czars, says the quickest way to make money selling its $7 million brooches in a recession is to lure the wealthy into surfing the Web. (Bloomberg)

Driven to Extremes (WSJ Magazine)
Can China single-handedly save the luxury car industry?

Mobile Marketing Done Right (eMarketer)
Ms. Pasqua spoke with eMarketer about what makes for effective mobile marketing.

A Storied Name in Jewelry Makes a Comeback (New York Times)
Fabergé, jeweler to the last Russian czar and creator of the legendary Imperial Easter eggs, made a comeback of sorts Wednesday when it presented its first jewelry collection in more than 90 years, even as other luxury goods makers are bracing for a tough year.

Fabergé, jeweler to the last Russian czar and creator of the legendary Imperial Easter eggs, made a comeback of sorts Wednesday when it presented its first jewelry collection in more than 90 years, even as other luxury goods makers are bracing for a tough year. (New York Times)

National Jewelry Network

New York–Faberge, the historic brand world-renowned for its jeweled eggs, is going back to its roots and relaunching with the unveiling of its first high-jewelry collection since 1917…

Faberge relaunches with high-jewelry collection

Jeg har et visst antall favorittblogger jeg besøker daglig. Denne her har jeg lenge tenkt å dedikere et helt innlegg til, og nå fikk jeg et ekstra påskudd til å gjøre nettopp det! En liten advarsel; dere VIL bli fristet til både å shoppe og å investere noen ekstra minutter på badet..

Linda Hallberg – en utrolig talentfull hår- og make-up artist – har en herlig konkurranse/tävling på sin blogg. Jeg har sååå lyst på et av disse Fabergé eggene med lipgloss inni..sukk…

Konkurransen (og bloggen hennes) finner du her!

Grimaldi Forum din Monaco găzduieşte până la 13 septembrie expoziţia “Moscova, splendorile Romanovilor”, care se axează pe fastul şi gloria ultimei dinastii de ţari, ce au condus Rusia timp de 3 secole (1613 – 1917) , Romanovii. ”O mare blândeţe, o mare simplitate, o mare eleganţă, acestea au fost trăsăturile predominante ale Romanovilor”, spune  curatoarea expoziţiei, Brigitte de Montclos, specialistă în cultura rusă.

Un accent deosebit este pus pe arta rusă din a doua jumătate a secolului XVIII până la începutul secolului XX, “secolul de aur”, în care au înflorit literatura (Cehov, Tolstoi), muzica ( Rimski-Korsakov, Ceaikovski), pictura. Expoziţia cuprinde 500 de opere de artă ce ilustrează epoca ce s-a scurs de la domnia ţarului Mihail (1613-1645) până la cea a ţarului Nicolae al II-lea (1895-1917) Veţi putea vedea veştminte preoţeşti, obiecte liturgice din metale preţioase, o colecţie de icoane, un iconostas din lemn sculptat şi aurit din secolul XVII, samovare, servicii de masă, bijuterii din aur şi argint, faimoasele ouă de Paşte (făcute din aur, platină, cristal de rocă, email şi bătute cu diamante şi rubine) Fabergé create până în 1917 pentru ţarii Alexandru al III-lea şi Nicolae al II-lea, rochii brodate, tronuri, medalii, candelabre, portretele ţarilor, fotografii, coroanele de căsătorie ale ţarilor, porţelanuri, cristaluri, mobilier, picturi. Toate acestea sunt grupate în şapte secţiuni, conform scenografiei lui François Payet : încoronarea Romanovilor (toate ceremoniile au avut loc în Catedrala Adormirii din Kremlin), splendorile Romanovilor, Moscova, portretul unui oraş, ordinele imperiale, stilul rusesc, şcoala rusească de pictori itineranţi, destinul Romanovilor.

Expoziţia poate fi vizitată zilnic între 10 şi 20 ( joia şi sâmbăta până la 22).

Principatul Monaco mai celebrează anul acesta 100 de ani de la înfiinţarea Baletului Rus (Ballets Russes) de către Serghei Pavlovici Diaghilev. Până la 20 septembrie mai puteţi vizita şi expoziţia Diaghilev la Monaco:”Uimeşte-mă”, în vila Sauber, noul muzeu naţional din Monaco , care se află chiar în faţa Grimaldi Forum.

•  Moscow:Splendour of the Romanovs (aici puteţi vedea câteva din piesele expoziţiei)

• Alte imagini: Moscow: Splendours of the Romanovs – Exhibition at the Grimaldi Forum Monaco

Download: Part 1

Download: Part 2

Je vous annonçais il y a quelques temps l’édition 2009 du Club e-Luxe, le premier club dédié au développement stratégique du luxe sur internet. Cette session a eu lieu le 4 juin dernier au Ritz Hotel à Paris.

Luxe Corp, cabinet de conseil pionnier en Stratégie & Management spécialisé dans l’industrie du luxe, a récemment déclaré que le Club e-Luxe 2009, avait été un franc succès, puisqu’il a une fois de plus attiré de nombreux professionnels des marques de luxe, dont Louis Vuitton, Cartier, Coty, Fabergé, Rémy Martin…

Cette année, le thème principal traitait des enjeux du e-Commerce de Luxe : “Selling the Dream of Luxury through e-Commerce – Approaches to the Virtual Online Experience”. Les recommandations apportées par des experts du secteur ont été exclusivement dédiées au e-Commerce de luxe et son environnement online : e-Retail, e-Experience, e-CRM, e-Merchandising, e-Logistique, e-Customization, les applications Mobile, l’influence du Web 2.0, les communautés virtuelles…

Téléchargez le Club e-Luxe Summit Book 2009 :

Le club est conçu pour des professionnels qui travaillent dans le marketing et le commerce en ligne de l’industrie du luxe, tels que les PDG, les directeurs marketing, les directeurs commerciaux, les directeurs Internet, les directeurs e-Commerce, les directeurs de la communication en ligne, et les décideurs des entreprises du luxe .

L’inscription au Club e-Luxe est annuelle. Elle permet aux professionnels de l’E-Business du Luxe d’échanger sur les meilleures pratiques dans le domaine du Luxe Online, et de bénéficier de sessions de consulting personnalisées. Le Comité Exécutif de Luxe Corp a récemment indiqué que : “L’objectif d’assurer un longueur d’avance en matière de e-Commerce de Luxe a été rempli avec succès lors de la session 2009. La majorité des participants a estimé que le Club e-Luxe avait largement dépassé ses attentes.”

Luxe Corp propose des services aux professionnels de l’industrie du luxe à travers trois principales divisions : Luxe E.t.c. (Conseil en Stratégie), Club e-Luxe (Club Exécutif pour les professionnels de l’E-Business du Luxe) et Luxe-Mag.Com (Magazine de Luxe en ligne). La société Luxe Corp est basée à Paris, New York et Shanghai.

This is the very first entry in the book. We cannot know what prompted James to start his chronicle, but the death of the King was certainly a significant event for the country, even for someone whose life was so far removed from royalty.

Edward VII

Edward VII was a smoker. He reputedly smoked twenty cigarettes and twelve cigars a day. Edward was also a man of habit and usually spent February and March of each year in Biarritz in the South West of France. He was taken ill with bronchitis and collapsed whilst staying there in March 2010. His illness was not reported in the press and he was criticised for staying out in France during the political crisis between the Liberal Government and the House of Lords.

He returned to London on the 27th April, still suffering from severe bronchitis. On the 6th May he suffered a series of heart attacks. His final words on the 6th were “I am very glad” when he was told by his son, the future George V, that the King’s horse “Witch of the Air” had won at Kempton Park.

Edward has three times come close to death before.  He contracted typhoid whilst staying in Scarborough in 1871, a disease which had killed his father. He was the subject of an assassination attempt by a 15 year-old Belgian socialist called Jean-Baptiste Victor Sipido. Edward was travelling through Brussels on his way to Denmark and Sipido fired twice at the Prince of Wales, as he then was. He missed and was arrested. Sipido held the Prince responsible for the slaughter in the Boer War, which was going on at the time. Amazingly he was found to be too young to be criminally liable and a hearing freed him. This caused a political storm between Britain and Belgium. Perhaps an irony of this is that Britain came into the First World War to defend Belgium’s independence when she was invaded by Germany and suffered an even greater slaughter.

The second occasion he came close to death was when he was diagnosed with appendicitis in 1902 just before he was due to crowned King. At the start of the 20th century this condition was very serious. Initially Edward refused the operation and said to the surgeon Sir Frederick Treves “I have a coronation on hand.” Treves replied, “It will be a funeral if you don’t have the operation.” The operation went ahead and was a success. The day after the operation he was sitting up smoking a cigar. As an aside Sir Frederick Treves was also the surgeon who treated the Elephant Man.

So having been saved he was heading down the route which was to kill him, less than ten years later!

Two individuals dramatically affected by Edward’s death were Alice Keppel, his last mistress. Queen Alexandra invited her to be at Edward’s bedside when he was dying. The other individual was Caesar the King’s favourite dog. Caesar was extremely well known and loved and hated by many, but was the favourite of Edward’s dogs by far. So famous and loved was Caesar that Fabergé was commissioned to create a model of him.

Sources:

Wikipedia
Who Named It

Fabergé – yes, those elaborate jewelled eggs -are set to preview their first ever high-end jewelry collection during the Paris couture shows next month and will launch the collection with a new website in September.

Fabergé Ltd. was purchased by Pallinghurst Resources, who acquired all trademarks and licenses associated with the Fabergé name back in January of 2007 from Unilever Plc, are vigorously rebranding Fabergé.

Mark Dunhill, the chief executive officer of Fabergé Ltd., said the collection “will bring a contemporary interpretation to the aesthetic and emotional qualities that established Fabergé works of art as the ultimate objects of desire.”

And who says couture is dead?

-Septembre

Tiffany & Co. (American, 1837 – present). Necklace, (Diamonds, pink tourmaline, yellow gold, platinum, c.1885 –1895). The Cleveland Museum of Natural History, 1991-20. Photo: Howard Agriesti, The Cleveland Museum of Art.

How gratifying that in an economic crisis, we can momentarily forget our worries, escape to a museum and indulge in pure fantasy.  “Artistic Luxury: Fabergé, Tiffany, Lalique” at the Legion of Honor through May 31, 2009 is an enticing show that will fuel your imagination and transport you back a century to a time when the world’s fair was the stage where all the newest innovations, curiosities and luxury goods were unveiled.  The show offers a glimpse of rare jewelry and design masterpieces from bling’s “big three” Peter Carl Fabergé, Louis Comfort Tiffany, and René Lalique set against the backdrop of the Exposition Universelle of 1900, the only world’s fair where all three masters showed simultaneously.  With some 300 objects from more than 50 international lenders, “Artistic Luxury” reunites works that have not been presented together since they were shown at this world’s fair and offers many pieces that have never been exhibited publicly in the United States before.  The exhibition is curated by Stephen Harrison of the Cleveland Museum of Art curator of decorative art and design, where the show originated and by Martin Chapman, curator of European decorative arts and sculpture for the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco.

The Legion of Honor is the perfect venue for this show as its benefactor Alma Spreckels, “big Alma” was a passionate collector of all three of these master designers, particularly Fabergé.  And one of the Legion’s current benefactors, Diane B. “DeDe” Wilsey, Fine Arts Museum Board of Trustees President, is also a passionate collector.   The Legion also organized the impressive 1996 blockbuster show “Fabergé in America” that had a 16 month, 5-stop national run and left some critics scathing at the blatant promotion of Fabergé, a large financial sponsor of the show.  Some of those Fabergé objects, along with some bequeathed by Mrs. Spreckels are on display again, and Mrs. Wilsey has lent her Kelch egg, rarely shown in public.  

Grand Entrance, 1900 Paris International Exposition. Courtesy of http://www.paris-in-photos.com

Prepare to be pleasantly overwhelmed.  The show is awash with globetrotting royals, aristocrats, stage stars, gallerists and industrialists from several different eras. It would take a battalion of Vanity Fair readers to piece together all the juicy stories behind these treasures that the rich and famous have commissioned, bought, bequeathed, auctioned, hawked and sued each other for over the years.  Unfortunately, the placards on the display cases read like dry novels, long lists of owners and way too little gossip.  Because jewelry is intimate, it begs for intimate stories of those who owned and wore these items.    And, of course, what the original owners paid and how that translates in terms of today’s dollar.

The Exposition Universelle of 1900 in Paris provides a fresh and historically interesting context for examining these three luxury producers.  Billed as the summation of a century, this world’s fair aimed to celebrate the achievements of the past century and to accelerate movement into the next.  And it was the center stage on which the rivalry between these three great luxury makers took place as they attempted to outdo each other and to woo the upper crust to buy their exquisite creations.  From April through November of 1900, over 50 million visitors attended and some 60 countries presented 85,000 exhibitions of the best of their art and culture, scientific innovations and manufacturing accomplishments. Visitors were wowed by innovations such as a moving sidewalk which rattled around the exhibitions at two different speeds—9 km/hour and 4 km/hour, the wireless telegraph, scientific photography, the first projected sound films and the world’s most powerful telescope.  The Exposition’s legacy includes many grand Parisian buildings that were constructed as venues for the Exposition such as the Grand Palais, the Gare de Lyon, the Gare D’Orsay (now the Musee D’Orsay), the Pont Alexander III and the Petit Palais.  

The new style that was universally present and served to usher in modernism was Art Nouveau, a revolutionary movement which was a response to the radical changes caused by the rapid urban growth and technological advances that followed the Industrial Revolution.  Art Nouveau basically sought to make art central in the design of all things and to abandon the traditional separation of art into the distinct categories of fine art (painting and sculpture) and applied arts (ceramics, furniture, and other practical objects).  

House of Fabergé (Russian, 1846-1929). Mikhail Perkhin (Russian, 1860-1903) designer. Imperial Pansy Egg. Nephrite, silver-gilt, enamel and rose-cut diamonds, 1899. Private collection. Photo: © Judith Cooper.

 The three luxury makers embraced Art Nouveau in varying degrees—Rene Lalique and Louis Comfort Tiffany on the cutting edge; Fabergé worked in several styles; Charles Lewis Tiffany remained a traditionalist.  

When walking through the galleries at the Legion, it is hard to distinguish objects that were actually shown at the Paris world’s exhibition from those produced during that period.  According to curators Stephen Harrison and Emmanuel Ducamp, who have been researching this for years, verification of the actual objects that were on display has been a difficult task, especially so for  because little information was retained.  The best sources have been photographs taken of the various booths and of objects and also sales receipts and correspondence. 

Fabergé: Beyond Eggs

Peter Carl Fabergé of St. Petersburg was at his peak at Exposition Universelle of 1900 where he displayed all the exquisite imperial Easter eggs he and his craftsmen had made, plus a selection of other luxurious objects, and was awarded the Legion d’Honneur.   Fabergé was the most conservative of the big three, catering primarily to the tastes of the Russian and British royal families and to international clients such as the King of Siam.  He used a greater variety of precious and semi-precious stones than any other jeweler in history and the Czar’s patronage gave him access to exquisite and rare Russian hardstones from Imperial quarries in the Urals and Atai Mountains.  Sapphires, emeralds and rubies were usually en cabochon (not faceted) and diamonds were almost always rose cut.  His enameling techniques were unparalleled, especially the finishes he achieved: opaque, semipolished or brilliant, or color effects which varied according to the angel of light or vision.  Refinement is the distinctive characteristic of all his work: one object alone might have four differnt shades of gold, blended and contrasted exquisitely with the colors of the gems and enamels he chose.

The 7 Fabergé eggs on display at this exhibition wonderfully illustrate the competing push-pull factors at play between historical revival styles and the beginnings of modernism around the turn of the century.  Fabergé maintained a foot in both design camps:  some of his designs were executed the Art Nouveau style such as the “Imperial Pansy Egg,”  while others such as the “Imperial Blue Serpent Egg Clock” were done in Louis XVI taste from 18^th Century France.  His complete mastery of historical styles was so proficient that he could readily adapt the very best elements from the past while keeping aspects of his pieces attractively modern. 

The well-known story behind the exquisite ornamental Imperial eggs is that they were commissioned by Czar Alexander III in 1885 and presented to his czarina, Maria Feodorovna, yearly at Easter up until the Russian Revolution.  After Alexander died, his son Czar Nicholas II continued the tradition with gifts of eggs to his mother and his wife, Tsarina Alexandra Feodorovna.  Together, father and son commissioned 56 eggs in total.  Fabergé had to always best himself and over the years his eggs, which always related thematically to the Imperial family or to scenes from Russia important to the family, become more and more elaborate with an array of dizzying surprises inside.   

House of Fabergé (Russian, 1846 - 1918), Mikhail Perkhin, workmaster. Imperial Blue Serpent Egg, (Gold, blue guilloche enamel, opalescent white enamel, diamonds, sapphires, 1887). H.S.H. Prince Albert II of Monaco.

One of Fabergé’s most beloved eggs is the famous Art Nouveau style “Imperial Pansy Egg,” given in 1899 to Maria Feodorovna.  This stunning green egg in nephrite, a form of Siberian jade, has tender branches of twisted gold from which appliqué pansies in enamel and diamonds seem to grow.  The treat found inside is executed in a more traditionally historical design—a large white heart with a border of diamonds sitting on an easel; affixed are 11 red enamel medallions like holly berries that click open to show miniature portraits of the members of the imperial family.  The family lent the egg back to Fabergé so that it could be shown at the 1900 Paris exhibition.   

The more traditional “Imperial Blue Serpent Egg” is actually a clock with a rotating dial—a snake’s tongue marks the hour—and was inspired by a fantastic French desk clock by Jean André Lepaute from about 1785.   The midnight blue enamel egg with gold garlands and diamonds was originally presented on Easter in 1887 to Maria Feodorovna and later owned by Princess Grace of Monaco.  Prince Rainier III of Monaco received the egg as gift in 1974 from Greek shipping magnate Stavros Niarchos and it became one of Princess Grace’s favorite objects, adorning her desk in her private study.  When we consider how cherished these objects were, it is remarkable that the Dowager Empress lent this egg, along with other treasures back to Fabergé to show at the 1900 Exposition Universelle. 

Also on display is the Fabergé “1902 Kelch Rocaille Egg” owned by Fine Arts Museum Board of Trustees President Diane B. “DeDe” B. Wilsey.  

House of Fabergé (Russian, 1846 – 1920). Imperial Lilies-of-the-Valley Basket, St. Petersburg, (Yellow and green gold, silver, nephrite, pearl, rose-cut diamonds, 1896). Cheekwood Botanical Garden & Museum of Art; on loan from the Matilda Geddings Gray Foundation.

 The 7 Kelch eggs were modeled after the Imperial Eggs and were all created by Michael Perkhin, Fabergé’s second head work master between 1898 and 1904.  They are as fine, if not even more sumptuous that those in the Imperial series.  The 1902 rocaille egg is made of translucent green enamel adorned with gold rococo cartouches, platinum flowers set with diamonds and varicolored gold palms, also set with diamonds.  The heart surprise picture frame is made of gold, rose-cut diamonds, and rose and white enamel.  Mrs. Wilsey keeps a portrait of her beloved dog in the diamond studded frame.

Fabergé and his craftsmen also created a wide range of personal luxury items and whimsical objects coveted by European aristocrats–all kinds of little boxes, small animal sculptures in semiprecious materials decorated with gold and gems, umbrella handles, cigarette cases, flowering branches set in vases and baskets, clocks and mechanical pieces.   One of his finest creations is the masterwork “Imperial Lilies of the Valley Basket” a basket of lilies of valley of seed pearls nesting in moss of spun gold with delicate leaves of carved stone.  It was presented to Tsarina Alexandra Feodorovna by the merchants of Nizhny Novgorod as a coronation gift in 1896 and became her favorite object by Fabergé; she kept it on her desk until the 1917 Revolution.  Fabergé borrowed it back and took it to the 1900 exposition in Paris where it was a sensation.

One of Fabergé’s most popular works at the turn of the century was a delicate “Dandelion Puff Ball” whose real-looking powdery fluff was actually asbestos fiber fixed on a thread of gold with a small uncut diamonds at the edge.  His inspiration was the Hermitage’s collections of flowers cut in precious stones made for Catherine the Great and her aunt.  The Legion of Honor has an entire case of flowers carved of rare hardstones from Russian Siberia and the Urals, each flower exquisite in its endearing simplicity.

Tiffany & Co. (American, 1837-present), Paulding Farnham (American, 1859-1927), designer. Iris Brooch. Pink tourmalines, green garnets, platinum, c. 1900-1901. Primavera Gallery, NY. Photo: Howard Agriesti, the Cleveland Museum of Art.

Two Tiffanys: American Upstarts

Visitors to the 1900 Exposition Universal would not have missed the stunning displays of luxury goods in the American pavilion by Charles Lewis Tiffany’s firm, Tiffany and Co., and beside it, the Tiffany Glass & Decorating Co. owned by his son, Louis Comfort Tiffany.  The numerous awards won by father and son were reported widely and this critical exposure bolstered demand and secured the reputations of both Tiffanys as a brand source of museum-quality objects.  No greater contrast between the traditional and conservative versus the new Art Nouveau style—could be seen than in the two Tiffany booths. 

In the Tiffany & Co. display, the emphasis was on rare and expensive stones in lavish settings that beckoned the seriously wealthy to buy.  The exhibition at the Legion offers a stunning 5-inch-long “Iris Brooch” in pink tourmalines, green garnets and platinum as well as a breathtaking necklace of large pink tourmalines set in diamonds, both created by Tiffany and Co. for Jeptha Wade II and his wife Ellen, of Cleveland, Ohio.  Wade was the grandson of the founder of the Western Telegraph Union and he and his wife typified the type of wealthy and socially prominent clients that Tiffany cultivated.  Despite heavy American demand, most Europeans thought the flashy American works produced by Tiffany & Co. were vulgar because they were created for business tycoons and not true aristocrats.  An elaborately carved elephant tusk tankard on display clearly crosses the line into excess and humor as it mistakenly features painstakingly carved American-style alligators instead of the African crocodiles that big-game hunters would expect want to see carved on their African elephant ivory trophies.

 Louis Comfort Tiffany’s glass was well known in Europe before the Exposition Universelle of 1900 due to his association with Siegfried Bing, the Paris gallerist whose department store-museum “Salon de l’Art Nouveau” which opened in 1895 gave name to the Art Nouveau movement.  Tiffany was one of the top artists in Bing’s stable of artists and designers and Bing retained exclusive distribution rights over his work up until the 1900 exhibition.  By the time, Tiffany showed at the 1900 exposition, his Favrille (handmade) glass had become legendary to the point that any artwork that had any iridescent quality was called “Tiffany glass,” much like any copy is referred to as a “Xerox.”

Tiffany Studios (American, 1900-1932). Magnolia Window. Lead, stained glass, 1900. State Hermitage Museum.

Louis Comfort Tiffany presented his finest work at the Paris fair, creating a special shaded gallery so that viewers could experience hismagnificent glass in all its glory.   His large “Four Seasons” window won a gold medal and his religious masterpiece, “The Flight of the Soul,” was extremely popular. In key parts of his windows, Tiffany and his team of artisans folded and layered glass to create texture, depth and realism. 

Tiffany’s precious “Magnolia Window” which has its U.S. debut at the Legion was displayed in Bing’s separate pavilion just outside the gates of the exhibition on the River Temps.  This window was bought in 1901 and taken to Russia by Baron Alexander von Stieglitz, for his Stieglitz Museum of Decorative and Applied Arts in St. Petersburg, as an example of contemporary art.  After the Russian Revolution and during the Soviet era, the window was in safe storage in the Hermitage but essentially lost to the art world.  This is the first time it has ever been seen.

The window exemplifies Tiffany rewriting the boundaries of conventional stained glass during this period, creating a canvas on which he essentially makes an Impressionist painting in glass.  The woman who actually worked the glass and created the cartoon or framework was Agnes Northrop, one of the many gifted women designers employed by Tiffany Studios.  In fact, the big three all had similar design studio set-ups where they were the master artist but employed a stable of very talented artists who could execute and sometimes extend their creative masterpieces.  The delicate shades of pink, green, and ivory glass selected for the petals and leaves of the tender magnolia blossoms show a remarkable sensitivity for color nuance.

Lalique: Uniquely Poetic Of the big three, Rene Lalique (1860-1945), the Parisian goldsmith and jeweler, had the most profound influence on his peers in Europe.  His booth was the sensation of the 1900 exposition, what everyone came to see—the walls were a glorious bestiary of women  crafted from bronze and glass with arms outstretched and transforming into winged butterflies, flanked by snakes and bats.  Beneath their protective wings were cases of his fabulous jewelry.  Lalique’s poetic interpretations, expressed through Art Nouveau design delivered a groundbreaking message: this not about was jewelry as precious stones but rather about jewelry as art.  Lalique was interested in conveying the mutual interdependence of the human, animal and plant realms and he created wildly provocative and metaphorical works that were a fusion of female, animal and plant in a mystical recognition of nature.

René Lalique (French, 1860-1945). Purse with Two Serpents, 1901-3. Gold, silver, antelope skin, silver thread; 23.1 x 17.9 cm. Private Collection.

Lalique’s designs were embraced by the celebrated actresses of the day, including Sarah Bernhardt and Julia Bartlett whose bold personalities could carry off these strong and often large artworks.  According to scholar Emmanuel Ducamp, who wrote the catalogue essay on Lalique, “The aristocracy backed away saying ‘too much and not enough,’ meaning too loud and the simple materials didn’t have enough value.” 

Lalique’s creativity and reformist vision of woman as earth mother, creator, warrior, and protector went hand in hand with the modernism embraced near the turn of the century in the theatrical repertoire.  Powerful roles for women like Salome, Jeanne d’Arc, Medee, Cleopatra—made impressions that had ripple effects.  The catalogue (p. 128) quotes the critic Plumet musing that Lalique’s jewelry had “a bizarre charm…disturbing, spellbinding, even Satanic.”  In all, a new woman was in the making and feminism was about to pop with Lalique’s designs stirring the pot.

While it was common among the big three to use serpents and insects in their designs, the snake in its various complex contortions was a principle theme of Lalique.  His “Purse with Two Serpents” (1901-03) created for Bernhardt has a clasp of two angry striking serpents cast in silver which guard the contents of the purse.  

According to Stephen Harrison, Lalique’s use of fighting snakes as guardians for the contents of a purse references not only the temptation of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, but the general mood of titillation that was central to Art Nouveau.  The work’s realism is underscored by the slippery-looking snake skins embroidered into the bag’s surface with silver thread.

René Lalique (French, 1860-1945). Cattleya Orchid Hair Ornament. Carved ivory, horn, gold, enamel on gold, diamonds, 1903-1904. Private collection. Photo: Laurent Sully Jaulmes. © Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/ADAGP Paris.

In the 19th Century, a passion for tropical orchids overtook Europe and people became practically manic in their interest which drove prices to incredible heights. Missions were sent to the tropics for collecting orchids to satisfy this passion for exotic plants.  Lalique’s ability to immortalize the delicate orchid in ivory must have been mesmerizing.  Around the turn of the century, he created a number of orchid hair combs which attest to his complete mastery of the material.  The “Cattleya Orchid Hair Ornament” on display has creamy petals whose lacey ruffled edges are so thin they are translucent. The piece is enhanced by pale green cloisonné leaves with veins of diamonds. 

As soon as mass production and second-rate firms began flooding the market with “Lalique-style” jewels, Lalique himself turned to a new medium–glass and a style that moved way from Art Nouveau’s interpretations of nature to a more abstract and simple form.  One of the reasons that Lalique became perhaps the greatest glassmaker of all times was that he applied his techniques of jewelry-making to glass art and his works conveyed his love of nature, capturing its poetry and enough realistic detail to impress everyone who encountered it. 

Saturday, May 30, the show’s very last weekend, offers “Luxe at the Legion: Divas as Patrons, Collectors”a free program that promises to let you relive la belle epoque in a luxurious day of music, films, lectures, and art.

The catalogue Artistic Luxury: Fabergé, Tiffany, Lalique by Stephen Harrison, Emmanuel Ducamp and Jeannine Falino, Yale University Press, is recommended, and provides a wealth of information about jewelry-making and styles at the turn of the century. 

Niet echt Nederhop, maar wordt meestal diggt het nederhoppubliek dit wel, Lele! Kwam in 2008 met een revolutionair album Flage! Hard, zoals ze het zelf vermelden op nummer 12 van le cd. Maar daar gaat het nu niet om, het gaat om eind mei! Dan komt er namelijk een gratis album van 7 of 8 tracks. Genaamd ‘Not an album’. Nee, het is geen EP zegt Fabergé bij 3voor12, Van Halen bracht 20 jaar geleden ook albums uit met 8 tracks. Maar al met al wordt het album alleen digitaal uitgebracht. Meer erover en interview vind je hier!

Ps. download de track Kni-Kna-Knallen op http://www.myspace.com/lelemusique

www.DrewBanks.com

Most authors I know despise self-promotion. This is one reason e-publishing is repugnant to them. While there are good reasons to publish via traditional publishers (the two biggest: 1. Credibility and, 2. Bookstore Distribution), a publishing house will not eliminate the need for self-promotion. Quite the contrary.

Recently, I’ve talked at length with two friends who have within the last year published via top tier publishing houses—one friend published a business book and the other, a first novel. Both were sorely disappointed with the level promotional assistance they received. The business guy had the self-promotional wherewithal to manage the publisher’s contractual negotiation to retain certain authorship rights and hire PR person to help with a fairly substantial publicity campaign. Thus his book has been a success by all standards. The novelist, thrilled to land a traditional publisher, felt she was in no position to promote herself and was forced into many compromises (title, cover design, etc.) she feels disparaged her book. Alas, the hardbound print-run did not do as well as expected and the publisher has decided not to do a softbound run. Nor will they sell her back the rights. Now she’s extremely discouraged because she believes the perception of this book’s failure will impact any future work she publishes.

I’ve a third friend who e-published in the same time period, and she and her co-authors pulled together an impressive grass roots PR campaign (even nabbed an interview on the Today Show) that far surpassed what the publishing houses were able to achieve for the above two authors/books.

The point is that, like it or not, self-promotion is critical to the success of almost any published work. An author needs to promote his or herself to attract an agent, negotiate agency/publishing contracts, secure that first review/reading, parlay that first review/reading into a second review/reading, and so on and so on, like the old Faberge commercial.

Having self-published a novel and published two business books through a traditional publishing house (i.e. Jossey-Bass), I certainly understand that promoting self-published work takes a lot more effort. Every bookstore you sell through requires a personal relationship/contract and every review requires substantial cajoling. But in the immortal words of Abba, that’s “The Name of the Game.“

As for self-promotional tools, we authors must be Googleable. We must have personal websites, LinkedIn profiles, and Facebook accounts. We must e-mail, blog and Tweet. We need to know which literary sites (Google Books, Goodreads, Red Room, Shelfari, LibraryThing, etc.) are relevant and which redundant. And somewhere we have to find time to write. Oh yea, there’s also the day job. God, if only I knew how to balance it all.

1. The Catalyst(s)

2. Good $ vs. Bad $

3. Risk Reduction

4. The Network Effect

5. Been There, Done That (serial entrepreneurialism)

6. The New New Thing

7. Emergence & Maslow

8. The Analogy of the Watch (moving parts)

9. A Clean Cap Table

10. Perseverance or Blinders

e-Publishing Reticence

1. False Deadlines

2. Readers & Editrs

3. Genre Opportunities

4. Target Marketing

5. Self-Promotion

6. Creating you Brand

7. The First Review

8. The Network Effect

9. Amazon Ranking

10. The Book Tour

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