Crowning Glory: The Special Connection Between Chaumet and Saudi Arabia…

Following the huge success of the maison’s Tiara Dream exhibition in Riyadh, CEO Jean-Marc Mansvelt reflects on the solid connection Chaumet is building with The Kingdom…

Delicate, powerful, regal, celebratory, feminine… the tiara comes in many forms and evokes a multitude of feelings.

Earlier this year, Chaumet let us experience those emotions and see those guises through its Tiara Dream exhibition at the King Fahd National Library in Riyadh. Through a hybrid display of beautiful historical and contemporary Chaumet pieces and immersive installations, the Maison explored the jewelled accessory’s prestigious and symbolic journey from French royalty in the 1700s to modern bridal styles, while paying tribute to the themes that connect Chaumet to the region.

Harper’s Bazaar Arabia sat down with Jean-Marc Mansvelt, the CEO of Chaumet, to talk about muses, discover what the region means to the brand and to find out more about the exhibition that took two years to create from inception to opening day…

Why was it important for Chaumet to make such a statement in Saudi Arabia?

Saudi Arabia, and the region more generally, is a very important place for us – where we feel that the more we go, the more we meet the people there, the more we feel a real sort of bond being created between Chaumet and the region, and particularly the country. The exhibition was a way to pay tribute to all our clients who have already joined the Chaumet family and also a way to introduce Chaumet even more to the public, show how Chaumet is different and what it means to wear a Chaumet piece.

And how was it received? Was it the response you expected?

What I’ve heard from people has been extremely positive. They are very pleased that a Maison like Chaumet has done something specific for the country – something real, something considered, which I think is still something very new. I think they were particularly moved by the fact that there are unique chapters of the exhibition where a specific link was created with their culture, with their country. We used all these incredible stories regarding the sky and stars – and how much that is relevant for both of us. Even though we don’t start from the exact same moments, or the same reason, by the end, there’s this sort of merging story. I think for them that was really very important – that this was more than just a location, that we really tried to understand the place.

What do you feel is the most exciting thing about this market in terms of the evolution of luxury?

Over the last few years, when it comes to Chaumet, what is most spectacular is the speed at which this market is evolving, and how there is a real maturity. If you would have asked me the same question maybe five or six years ago, my answer would have been different, my feeling was that most clients were following the same trend, same icons and the same brands. At that time, everyone more or less had to look the same. Whereas today, what I find very exciting, is really the essence of maturity, there is still a strong demand for ‘the same’ but the more we go on, there is also this need, this request for something a little bit more distinctive – ‘how do I sit a little bit apart from people that are around me?’ I find that this happens regularly in many markets after a few years, but in this region, and particularly in Saudi Arabia, my feeling is that it happened much quicker, much stronger, It’s much more visible.

And Chaumet events across the region are causing a stir, always held in secret and incredible spaces that have never been accessed by other brands before, why are these types of event so important?

Fundamentally, the choice of Chaumet from a client perspective is a choice of distinction. We prefer to go to a place that has not been used by someone else, we prefer something a little bit more intimate, our purpose isn’t about: ‘look how big my muscles are’, we prefer the opportunity to have a conversation with everyone rather than demonstrating power and size. Our perspective at Chaumet is that we want to convey something a bit different.

Chaumet has done a fantastic job of maintaining that intimacy, which is quite rare, especially being owned by a large company. You’re also known for that heartfelt personal touch – how do you maintain that?

Of course, we are here to do business, there is no question about this but let’s be very clear, this is a consequence, not a starting point for Chaumet. We think of the experience when you are with us – you will never see me looking unhappy in one of our stores. Typically in store, you will spend one hour, two hours with a client and at the end it’s not always transformed into a product that you sell, but that person will then go on to a dinner with friends and talk about Chaumet and suddenly he or she becomes a sort of ambassador expressing her positive feelings, her own emotions, her own understanding and in turn those people pay a little bit more attention to Chaumet too.

The tiara and high jewellery offering are what Chaumet is known for, but you also have more accessible ranges such as Bee My Love. How do you strike a balance to ensure that Chaumet remains a very exclusive luxury brand?

We try to really link every creation to the long story of Chaumet. Behind Bee My Love there is a shape connected to the bee, which is connected to the founding myth of Napoleon and Empress Josephine – she was a botanist and also a woman of love and sentiment. So whatever the collection, either something for daily use, more accessible or more high jewellery, we always try to bring it back to the symbols. We really consider that Josephine was so central in our story with her multiple facets, so each time we try to reconnect with this moment, because that’s the founding myth.

She is an incredible muse for a house to have, a great figure of romance and a font of continual inspiration, but would Chaumet consider a modern-day muse?

One person, one character, one face, it’s not really what we want to do, because we think that Chaumet is about multiplicity. Josephine with her multiplicity is one muse but to really become a little bit more emblematic today, we play around with this portfolio of beautiful women, all with the same common sort of grace and character. These women are part of life today, she can be an actress, a writer, a musician, a businesswoman or a princess. At the end of the day, what is important is they have a sort of common personality, this sort of graceful, feminine, very contemporary character.

From Harper’s Bazaar Arabia’s July/August 2022 Issue.