There’s an exciting new diamond brand set to debut during Paris’ high jewelry presentations in July, Maison Mazerea. But while “new,” the house was founded on many principles of the past. “Inspired by the foundations laid by Cardinal Mazarin in 17th-century France and the love of diamonds that he passed on to his protégé Louis XIV, Maison Mazerea is reviving the concepts of haute diamanterie,” the founder of Maison Mazerea, Peter J. Ravenscroft, tells JCK. “Sourcing the finest natural diamonds, hand-crafted into unique shapes using heritage cuts best suited to fancy color diamonds and guaranteeing quality and provenance, haute diamanterie represents a return to tradition, to a time when diamonds were not a universal commodity, but where the individual beauty of each stone generated passion, desire, and romance known only by royalty.”
To ensure full traceability of these stones, Ravenscroft believes in bringing it back to the ways of the old, pre–lab-grown days—from mining to market. “With our complete chain of custody from mine to jewelry, we can guarantee impeccable provenance and ethical practices throughout the process,” he says. “We can also connect ultimate jewelry customers with local mine communities, directing a proportion of final retail revenue through the independent Fondation Mazerea all the way back to transformative community and environmental projects.”
The first stone to be produced by the house was designed by none other than renowned jeweler Lorenz Bäumer in collaboration with the Princess Grace Foundation (which is dedicated to supporting emerging talent in performing arts). Aptly named the Grace Diamond, the 1.79-carat fancy vivid purplish-pink stone was previously known as the Argyle Stella and was one of the last five to derive from the now-closed Argyle mine in Australia, which was known especially for its pinks. Inspired by one of Bäumer’s favorite songs, “La Vie en Rose,” the design “reflects the pleasure drawn from both the simplest and the most awe-inspiring things that life has to offer,” Bäumer and his atelier tell JCK. The result? “A classic, timeless, yet modern design, offering the wearer so many ways to reveal its beauty.”
Just the start of Maison Mazerea’s diamond possibilities, “Maison Mazerea is a new force in the diamond jewelry sector,” says Ravenscroft, “not a mining company, not a jewelry company, but a vertically integrated diamond company seeking to revive the desirability of rare and beautiful diamonds.”
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