On the heels of the unveiling of Lydia Courteille’s new high jewelry collection, Love Story, during Paris Fashion Week, the Parisian jeweler is being celebrated in a new book. Lydia Courteille: A Jeweller’s Odyssey, Juliet Weir-de La Rochefoucauld’s second book about the gemologist and designer, details her 40 years of innovation and the female figures—including Marie Antoinette and Catherine the Great—who have inspired her.
Below are a couple of excerpts about Courteille’s work and influences from the 224-page hardcover, available July 21. (Author and jewelry expert Weir-de La Rochefoucauld’s previous book about the designer, Lydia Courteille: Extraordinary Jewellery of Imagination and Dreams, was published in 2014.)
In her La Vie en Rose collection, “Courteille transformed swan feathers into sumptuous pink concoctions: a swan-feather ring and a pair of ear-pendants, inspired by the ancient Greek myth of Leda and the Swan. In the story, Zeus disguises himself as a swan in order to couple with Leda, the wife of Tyndareus, the King of Sparta. As a result, Leda conceives two children: Pollux and the beautiful Helen of Troy, said to have hatched together from a single egg. This famous legend prompted Lydia to indulge her love for antiquity, archaeology and intaglios—engraved gems with intricate miniature detailing, in this case depicting a scene from the myth.”
Some of Courteille’s jewels were informed by Chinese culture, specifically architecture. “Courteille’s fascination with Chinese architecture continued east on the Silk Road from Samarkand, following the arduous trail to the oasis trading towns on China’s borders. Along the way, the outlines of houses and villages start to change to form as tiles, eaves and the bowed outlines of roofs begin to dominate the horizon. In the presence of this unique scenery, Lydia imagined a cuff bracelet with cut moonstones for roof tiles.”
Top: The cover of Lydia Courteille: A Jeweller’s Odyssey by Juliet Weir-de La Rochefoucauld (available July 21), $65; ACC Art Books (photos courtesy of Lydia Courteille)
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