Jewellery and Couture Maisons Vever and Natan Collaborate for Sotheby's Brussels’ 50th Anniversary

Highlights from The Luxury Sales in Brussels, February 2024

Launch Slideshow

Highlights from The Luxury Sales in Brussels, February 2024

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I t's been 50 years since Sotheby’s Brussels opened, a half-century during which numerous prestigious exhibitions have taken place at the company’s various sites across the city, spanning the best in art, photography, drawings, books and luxury. And this month, the celebrations continue in a unique collaboration between two legendary brands of European couture and jewellery.

In a fascinating new exhibition, the Brussels-based maison Natan, founded by designer Edouard Vermeulen will be presenting 10 new designs of exquisite couture, complemented by a selection of historical and exclusively-commissioned pieces by the historic French jewellers Vever. The exhibition features around 30 pieces of Vever Heritage collection as well as a historical and contemporary selection from the French Maison.

Ahead of the event in Brussels, Sotheby’s met with Edouard Vermeulen and Camille Vever for a chat about their respective brands’ histories, ethos, Art Nouveau and what we can expect to see in the forthcoming exhibition.

Edouard, I love the background where you’re sitting right now. It looks absolutely beautiful. Where exactly are you?
Edouard Vermeulen: I’m here in the Couture Salon, on the first floor, which is a space we opened a few seasons ago, to create a big fitting room where you can select and mix the fabrics for made-to-measure creations. This first floor is a more private floor. In this house, we have the atelier, where we create our items, and the store on two floors. It is a house when we respect the tradition and refinement of couture, just like in fine jewellery.

Camille where do we find you today ?
Camille Vever: Hello, nice to talk to you, I am away from Paris currently, enjoying a little break with my two children in the south west of France.

Could we begin by discussing Vever’s heritage? It’s one of the oldest and most renowned jewellery brands in Europe.  
Camille: Yes, of course. It is quite a unique and original history, because I represent the seventh generation of the family. Maison Vever was born in 1821 in Metz, in the east of France, founded by Pierre-Paul Vever. In 1872, following the annexation of part of the Lorraine region by Germany, my family moved to Paris, settling in Rue de la Paix, which was - and still is - the heart of jewellery in the world. Maison Vever swiftly became famous, especially for its daring creations during the Art Nouveau period. The house was really a pioneer of this disruptive movement, which put art and craftmanship at the centre of the creation of jewellery. It won five Grand Prix at World Fairs, from 1889 to 1925, in Brussels, Paris and London. In that period the house gained its reputation of excellence in jewellery savoir-faire and innovation.

Art Nouveau was a major event, affecting all manner of disciplines and ideologies at the time…
Camille: Yes, Art Nouveau was really a disruptive movement which shook the decorative arts, and in jewellery, new kind of jewels appeared. In French we say le bijoux d’art - ‘jewellery of art’. Why? Because the value of the jewel was no longer just in the gems and the precious metals but rather in the art, design and craftmanship. And Art Nouveau was really an ode to nature and women - in French, we refer to the three ‘F’s’ of Art Nouveau: la femme (women), la faune (fauna) and la flore (flora).
They used materials unseen in jewellery previously, such as horn, ivory, and enamel. The materials were serving the design, the artistic vision and value of the jewel. Vever was a pioneer of this approach, along with René Lalique, who worked for Henri Vever for several years. Maison Vever had some of the most prestigious customers of the time, such as the Shah of Persia, Tsars of Russia, French president Sadie Carnot, wealthy industrialists from Europe and America, as well as talented figures from the art and entertainment world, such as Sarah Bernhardt.

After the 1950s though, the house lost its innovative spirit and rested on its laurels. The family descendents who managed the house from then were not as daring, audacious and visionary as their predecessors. They did not hire the talented experts they needed to keep on developing activity; on the contrary, the house lost its sparkle. It sometimes happens with family businesses - not everyone can or is willing to pursue the family destiny. My grandfather who was the last manager of the house wanted to be a plane pilot, not a jeweller! As a consequence, the house closed in 1982.
My father was of the sixth generation since Vever’s creation - and the first one not to be managing the house. But since my 16th birthday, I had it in mind to revive the brand one day.

Was Vever still specialising in the Art Nouveau style by 1950? Or had it evolved?

Camille: No, Art Nouveau was an intense period of creativity but spanned a rather short period of time, from 1889 to 1914. The Art Deco movement came right after, Vever took part in it and made beautiful pieces as well, but did not become as famous for its creations during that period, probably because the house did not play a leading role in the movement.

Edouard, I read that a very early love of yours was architecture, a passion with you that has been there for a long time and I find that very interesting – how did that translate into fashion design?

Edouard: I think it’s important that while both are similar, to always be searching for new colours and volumes. I was always very interested in fashion, antique jewellery and design in general. When I was 24 years old, I came to the house of Paul Natan [in Brussels] to rent a space for my first pieces of furniture. It was a coincidence, to come in contact with a fashion brand via this space. When I first arrived and people told me the history of the Paul Natan brand, it didn’t fascinate me at that point. I was lucky to be able to present my furniture [designs] here, in the entrance of the building. Then people came in and would always say, 'Before, there was a maison de couture here, La Maison Paul Natan.' I would answer that this person had left 30 to 40 years ago and someone else took over. But I did start to think that we could create a few pieces to answer the demand. And so, I started with two or three pieces. I quickly discovered that my real passion was for fashion and took over the brand. I thought it would be better to leave out the first name Paul and call the label 'Natan'. So, we started 40 years ago, and now I still love to do the interior designs for myself, in the house and the stores.

And how does that translate to the business of fashion, of designing clothes? What are the principles that you are close to your heart?
Edouard: For me, it's minimalism, because I like everything that is real and simple. I also love very feminine, contemporary designs. The most important thing for my team is femininity. I think it’s important for our clients to be able to choose fine jewellery like Vever, to wear with sophisticated couture. It is also important to use noble materials. Everything is made in Europe and the fabrics come from Italy or France. We have our own two ateliers, and clients can receive expert advice from our seamstresses here. Our clients often come to our store with their jewellery, asking what they can wear to go with their pieces.

So it's an all-encompassing service at Maison Natan!
Yes, when clients come to our couture store, they visit the Head Office, and it is an experience. It’s very important to offer a high-quality service, but also for the clients to dream. We need to keep on dreaming! And it’s a total contrast to fast fashion. In the 40 years that I have been working here, since the beginning, the DNA of Natan has always been the same. It’s a difficult world that we live in and when people enter the store, there’s nice music, they can have a glass of champagne or a coffee, anything is possible, the dream starts here! Because what you decide during your visit, will determine how you feel well when you wear your choice of garment. So when you have a special occasion - it all starts here.

I love that - the party starts here! Edouard, if I could bring this question to you, because obviously, as Camille mentioned, Art Nouveau has its roots in Belgium. How did those initial precepts of Art Nouveau shape what you do?
Edouard: I’ve been living in Belgium, in Brussels for over 40 years and here, right next to the house, are some really nice Art Nouveau buildings. I have always been inspired by painters such as Gustav Klimt, but I believe Art Nouveau is very feminine. I’m fond of Le Baiser by Klimt. It is an inspiration tot me for so many reasons; the colours, the movement, the expression, the feeling, everything. And I can find the same inspiration in the wonderful collection of Vever

Camille, you mentioned, when you were talking about Art Nouveau earlier, how it was quite a revolutionary form. And my understanding of Art Nouveau was that it was quite radical when the movement began. So maybe we could talk a little bit more about how Vever became so, I think it was Henri Vever, wasn’t it, who embodied this philosophy?
Camille: Yes, in fact Henri Vever was passionate about innovation. He had a personal diary and I remember reading it and seeing that in 1898 he had written, ‘We no longer want [the style of] Louis XV’. He really wanted to propose a new, different kind of jewellery, It is important to understand that Henri Vever who was the creative director of Maison Vever, was an artist as well. He was a painter, a pupil of Jean-Léon Gérôme, the French painter (1824-1904) and a very good friend of Claude Monet. He painted in the favourite places of the Impressionists, adopting the Corot style. He was particularly inspired by the green nature around his country house in Noyers, France, where he painted numerous landscapes. He was a passionate and curious man. He began collecting art at a young age, acquiring his first Rembrandt at the age of 17 and going on to become an important collector of Impressionist paintings and Islamic art. In Paris, he surrounded himself with great Parisian artists such as Claude Monet and spent part of his days visiting famous art dealers such as Siegfried Bing and Georges Petit or at the exhibition and sales rooms of Drouot.

Henri was also passionate about Japanese art. He was a member of the ‘Friends of Japanese Art Society’ and the owner of one of the largest collections of Japanese prints of the time, with over 8,000 drawings. He also nourished his love of Oriental and Persian art on a two-month journey in 1891, from Paris to Istanbul, via Moscow.
Henri brought all these influences into his jewellery. He was a daring jeweller and used unexpected materials such as ivory, enamel, or hard stones that could better capture the beauty of nature into his jewellery. And the value of his jewellery lay in the boldness of its designs and materials, along with the superb craftsmanship. The materials benefited the jewel, not the other way around.
Those jewels are today displayed in museums in France and abroad, and regularly sold at prestigious auction houses such as Sotheby’s.

Both Vever and Natan place great value on ensuring ethical practices throughout the sourcing manufacturing process. Edouard, how is this important to you and how does Natan’s manufacturing reflect an ecologically aware approach? 
Edouard: Everything starts with the fabrics, the primary materials and my love for couture is in every step of the process. The choice of noble and environmentally friendly fabrics, as well as the ‘petites mains’ working in my own atelier in Brussels, ensures an ethical practice. We also launch upcycling capsules, reinterpreting samples for previous collections, and collaborate with many humanitarian projects outside the European borders, for accessories in specific locally-sourced materials

I was reading that you are doing some fantastic things you’re using for example a vegan leather which you’ve sourced from cacti.
Edouard: We have dresses here in this very room, made from recycled plastic bottles - I am surprised at the result! I have a lot of respect for re- and upcycling. The most important thing in this business, is to work with nice fibres and natural materials. Sometimes clients tell me that they still wear a Natan dress from over ten years ago. I answer 'Ten, or or even forty years is perfect because it’s the purpose of our timeless collection, but you also need to buy something new because it’s important that I can create other collections.' I used to see three generations coming to our store: the young daughter, the mother and the grandmother. Now we feel that all these generations have become one. A lady now might want to wear something that her daughter can wear too. 20 years ago, that was unthinkable. This mix of generations is amazing, especially in relation to our timeless and sustainable designs.

And so people are being more versatile and resourceful now!
Camille: One thing I would like to add to Édouard’s point - last week, one of our customers, who recently bought a pair of Vever’s ginkgo earrings, came to our showroom. She told me she had an important event coming up, her son’s wedding and for that special occasion, she had planned to wear a beautiful green dress from Natan and needed a new pair of Vever earrings, as her daughter had decided she would wear her mother’s ginkgo pair at the wedding. So that’s exactly Édouard’s point – nowadays, generations are mixing beautiful dresses or jewellery, for some of our customers, it’s important that their daughters, sisters or mothers can wear their Vever jewels as well.
Natan’s creations are so chic and elegant to me. With Natan, we share common values: the ode to feminity, the search for elegance, the promotion of sustainability, the respect of mankind, the passion for craft. For sure, our clients share theses common values, and search for houses that are true to them.

Both Vever and Natan place great value on ensuring ethical practices throughout the sourcing and manufacturing process. Bearing in mind your earlier message, could we talk Vever’s approach to sustainable practise?
Camille: When we decided to relaunch the family house in 2021 with my brother Damien, it was obvious to us that the jewellery we were going to make had to be fully aligned with our convictions. The house was created 200 years ago and, if we were to relaunch it, it had to be for another 200 years! This is why from day one, we decided to use materials and processes that allow us to create the most responsible jewellery possible, when it comes to the ethical and environmental concerns of the industry. Vever minimises its impact by using only materials that do not come from mining, are traceable and guarantee good working conditions for workers (sustainable diamonds, recycled gold, upcycled mother of pearl and so on).

As such, Maison Vever is the first company in the entire French luxury sector to be officially registered as an ‘entreprise à mission’ or ‘mission-driven company’, which is a legal status intended for companies putting at the heart of their business model the addressing of their industry’s social and environmental challenges.
Our jewellery is 100% made in France, in the best workshops of Place Vendôme, using exceptional and ancestral artisanal know-how such as plique-à-jour enamel, and celebrating nature and feminity.
Women have always been one of the main sources of inspiration for the Maison's creations. As we celebrate them in our creation, we are also supporting their emancipation in today’s society, through the active support of entrepreneurial projects with the association ‘L dans la Ville’ and the female’s mentorship program of Paris ‘s chamber of commerce, of which I am a member. We felt that our approach was 100% in line with the legacy of the house, opening a new path in the industry, shaking up the codes of historic jewellery houses, proposing a ‘Luxe Nouveau’ in the 21st century.

Edouard and Camille are now going to be collaborating with us in an exhibition in Brussels, marking the 50th anniversary of Sotheby’s in Brussels. It’s going to be a spectacular exhibition with a selection of Vever pieces and ten of Édouard’s Natan designs. What can we expect to see here?
Edouard: For me, it’s an honour to collaborate with Vever, as it is an absolute reference in jewellery. We are grateful to be able to present it through Sotheby’s as well.
Camille: We will showcase around thirty jewels and objects closely linked to the history of Maison Vever. Collectors, friends and family have loaned us their precious objects, jewellery, photographs, drawings, and paintings to share Vever’s heritage in Brussels, the city of Art Nouveau. These pieces will highlight the passions and inspirations of the family’s most eminent creative character, Henri Vever, the architect who along with his brother Paul, launched the Maison at the end of the 19th century, and took it into the 20th. His passions and travels influenced his art and that is what we are showcasing in the exhibition with some of his Japanese inros, paintings, Art Nouveau and Persian-inspired jewels.

The visitor will understand the creative path Henri Vever took, his audacious philosophy, his insatiable curiosity and the promotion of an exceptional artisanal know-how that allowed the Maison to become a pioneer of Art Nouveau. And while celebration of woman, nature and exceptional artisanal know-how is at the heart of Vever’s heritage and vision, it’s something that is shared as well with Natan’s creations. Indeed, the exceptional couture creations of Natan, inspired by nature and enhancing woman with the utmost exquisite feminity, will resonate deeply with Maison Vever’s jewels in the exhibition at Sotheby’s in Brussels.

Natan and Vever's collaboration will be on view at Sotheby's Brussels in 'Highlights from The Luxury Sales' between 22–24 February 2024. For more details, visit Sotheby's Brussels here