Chaumet
In 1780 Marie-Étienne Nitot set up his business in Paris having previously worked with Aubert the jeweler to Queen Marie-Antoinette. His success grew steadily and he was later joined by his son, Francois Regnault Nitot Together they became official jewelers to Napoleon in 1802. Among the pieces they created were the wedding jewels for both the Empresses Josephine and Marie-Louise as well as Napoleon’s coronation crown. Even the Consular sword and the tiara of Pius VII we theirs. After the fall of Napoleon, the firm was sold to Jean-Baptiste Fossin who had worked for Nitot. Jean continued the business along with his son, Jules. In 1848, Jules Fossin entered into a partnership with the J.V. Morel who had been the Fossin & Fils workshop managing jeweler between 1834 and 1840. Morel moved to London and set up shop at 7, New Burlington Street and was assisted by his son, Prosper. Queen Victoria in 1859 granted them her Royal Warrant. Prosper returned to Paris in 1854, to join Jules Fossin and he eventually succeeded him in 1868. A few years later Morel’s daughter Marie fell in love with a Joseph Chaumet. Chaumet began his jewelry career at the age of fifteen in Bordeaux. Upon moving to Paris, Chaumet was hired by his future father-in-law and in June 1875 he married Marie. By 1885 he had assumed management of the firm and just four years later in 1889 he bought the company outright and changed the name to his own. Chaumet went as far as to set up his own laboratory to study pearls and other gemstones. In an effort to ensure the quality of every process of his pieces he set up workshops for a wide range of craftsmen including box-makers, leather-workers, and even diamond cutters. Early in the 20th century Chaumet opened in the Palace Vendome and in 1907 the shop and all workshops moved to number 12, opposite the Ritz Hotel, where the firm maintains its flagship. Chaumet participated in the 1925 Exposition des Arts Décoratifs in Paris. Three years later in 1928 Joseph Chaumet passed away and was succeeded by his son Marcel who continued the businesses. In 1958 his two sons, Jacques and Pierre, were appointed executive directors and ran the company throughout the 60s and 70s before filing for bankruptcy in 1987. Chaumet was then bought first by an investment group and then in 1999 by LVMH.
