Vever
Vever began in 1821 when founder Pierre Vever (1795-1853) opened a jewelry shop in Metz, France. The business did well and high society took notice of the shop. Vever's reputation spread and many applied to be apprentices for Vever growing the business greatly as he trained master craftsman. In 1848 Ernest, Pierres son took the helm. Ernest had studied with his father as well as with various German and Austrian manufacturers and ran the company until 1870 when he fled Metz because of war. Moving his family to Paris 1871 he opened up a shop at Rue de la Paix which produced jewelry for about 10 years. During this time he trained his sons (Henri and Paul) in he works. Henri furthered his design education by attending L’Ecole de Arts Décoratifs and Ecole Nationale de Beaux-Arts to study drawing, modeling, and ornamental design. Henri took control of the firm in 1881 when Ernest retired with Paul by his side. By 1889 they exhibited at Paris’s International Exposition. They pushed the Art Nouveau style yet with added gems to the designs. The firm also employed expert enamellist Etienne Tourrette, designer Henri Vollet, modeler and chaser Gautrait, and sculptor René Rozet all of which who added design elements and crafted pieces for the Vever name. Henri also became quite the historian for jewelry writing French Jewelry of the Nineteenth century about the history of jewelry in France. Paul passed away in 1915 and Henri plans for his own succession passing the business to Paul's sons Andre and Pierre. In 1942 Henri passes away. By 1960 Andre and Pierre were aging and passed the company to Jean Verver who ran the company until 1982 when the company closed.
