Written by Bérengère Treussard - Wednesday, October 12, 2016
DUODECI, the formidable concept which aims to highlight international artistic talent and French know-how for high jewellery creation, has launched a crowdfunding on ULULE.
The crowdfunding session on Ulule aims to publicise a new website that breaks the codes and gives you access to collector items. Do not hesitate
I was lucky enough to follow this adventure since its inception and I met one of the founders of the project to let you know a little more.
I created my own company at the age of 21, « L’atelier de Paris » in the heart of Paris, then a boutique in Agen, my hometown. I was honoured with the title of Meilleur Ouvrier de France for jewellery in 1994 (best jeweller). With 7 children, I decided to focus on my family life and I also decided to dedicate myself to transmission of knowledge as a priority.
I owe this idea to the younger generation. We created a Diploma of Jewellery Craftsmanship (in French: Diplôme des Métiers d’Art du Bijou et du Joyau) in 2001 in a specialised high-school named Jean Guéhenno in the town of Saint-Amand-Montrond. That was when I saw the tremendous potential of these young people. The idea of bringing them together to help them grow and thrive had germinated, and further developed to designers in general.
I would also like to show the backstage of jewellery creation in films that will present the different stages of manufacture.
Today high jewellery is dominated mainly by brands, these brands have their own code, they evolve in their own universe and the designers who have to adapt to that. Tomorrow, it will be the creators who offer their own universe without constraint.
With
We are experts in manufacturing, it will be carried out by « Maîtres d’Arts » and « Ouvriers de France » i.e. The best artisans of France, whether in jewellery, polishing, setting and for all the high jewellery techniques which require a specific know-how. We will be at the service of the creators and designers to offer customers the excellence for which we are known worldwide. The designer will sign his jewel and it will be made in limited editions of 12 copies, as a work of art.
Jewellery requires great know-how and noble materials. We will offer creations from 12 000 €. The prices will vary according to the gems, which as you know can be very different from one to another. Prices will be known to all, posted online, and no need to move from your computer to get a quotation.
Each of the 12 jewels produced will be unique because of the choice of the center stone defined between the customer and the designer. The gems will be rare and precious, with very limited quantity due to rarity. We create high jewellery pieces, it takes time to manufacture and to select the most noble materials.
Our identity will be to reveal all the steps of crafting a high jewellery piece, to discover the birth of a creation,from the first pencil drawing to the realisation. Indeed certain steps are magical yet totally unknown to the public.
We offer the best guarantees to our customers: a certificate for each stone, the guarantee of made in France in the best workshops by the best artisans as well as the usual purchase delivery guarantees. The know-how of the best artisans, certified « Meilleurs Ouvriers de France », will give another dimension to the creations realised and guarantees in itself the excellence of the realisations.
Emotion is the first criteria. 12 designers from the world of design will be presented to begin with. Disrupt the codes, discover new signatures. The first theme will be the EDEN, but in the near future the website users will choose the themes and somehow become part of the whole concept.
The crowdfunding campaign was aimed at making the public aware of our existence, we have no history and we are not going to invent one. This funding is a means of communication because it allows us to explain our approach.
There are 10 days left and we have reached 58% of the goal so all is not lost, we just need more support. Indeed, this fundraising will allow us to publish the book we present on the Ulule web page. This book is in fact a directory that will show the universe of creators and their contact information in order to allow them also to develop their business. There is no exclusive contract. The partnership with them leaves them masters of their creations.
This is why we have creators from all over the world asking to join our team. And our
If the fund raising reaches 12,000 €, we can publish this book but otherwise the contributors will be refunded, this is the principle of crowdfunding.
The crowdfunding is done over 36 days, everything revolves around the number 12 or its multiples. The dodecahedron is a perfect form, according to Leonardo da Vinci it “embodies the universalist spirit of the Renaissance, of which it remains the symbol” and here we are with symbolic creation within the framework of a cycle, a renaissance, a creative blossoming.
The website launching originally scheduled for December 12, 2016 will open on January 12, 2017 to start the year off right.
We have been working on the concept for two years, it is a massive project, a team of 30 people is working on it. The website must rise to the challenge and expectations and this takes time. It will be translated into 8 languages and aims to be global in order to find the best talents and offer the creations to a high-end clientele. Thus expanding French know-how thanks to the best artisans, the « Meilleurs Ouvriers de France ».
Our company has received assistance from the French Public Investment Bank (BPI) to develop this concept. Our ambitions are great and so are the means required to reach our goal, so we are also looking for investors who wish to support this innovative project.
Thank you Arnaud Pradat for this information and this thrilling project. I cannot wait to discover the book and the website in January.
Click here:
The book of gouache paintings is already a collector’s but also available via the crowdfunding campaign are beautiful silk scarves illustrated with the DUODECI designers’ drawings.