Lorenz Bäumer,The Little Prince of High Jewelry Creates Masterpieces that Say “I Love You”

After beating the biggest names in jewelry in an anonymous competition organized by the Prince’s Palace, Lorenz Bäumer created the tiara that Charlene Wittstock wore on the day of her marriage to HRH Prince Albert II of Monaco in 2011. Karl Lagerfeld immortalized this magical moment when he photographed Lorenz and Charlene wearing her Écume de Diamants (Froth of Diamonds).

Lorenz Bäumer’s work won recognition when seven of his pieces of jewelry, four of which had been made by Chanel Joaillerie, were exhibited in the permanent collection of the Jewelry Gallery at the Museum of Decorative Arts in Paris.

Christian Razel of Imerse conducts an exclusive interview with Lorenz Bäumer, the maverick of the Place Vendôme.

Lorenz Bäumer by Vik Muniz

Lorenz Bäumer: I’m an innovative jeweler. I create pieces of jewelry out of titanium, I make use of 3D printing, I inscribe diamonds using a laser. Modern technology has a lot to offer when it comes to designing a piece of jewelry. I’m also atypical, as opposed to traditional or classic, as I receive guests to the Place Vendôme in a relaxed fashion with a glass of whiskey.

I have created my brand slowly and consistently. I got my start thanks to word of mouth. The creation of the tiara for HRH Princess Charlene of Monaco gave me credibility and fame. I have also collaborated in an official capacity as artistic director with Chanel Joaillerie and Louis Vuitton. I have worked in partnership with numerous luxury brands like Guerlain and Baccarat. That’s how I managed to distinguish myself amidst the big names associated with luxury in high jewelry.

I am one of the few creators living on the Place Vendôme. My clients come to me for a unique, immersive experience.

My collaborations with Chanel Joaillerie and Louis Vuitton over the past 25 years have allowed me to accumulate enough capital to gradually create and finance my own firm, while remaining independent.

Lorenz Bäumer and the Princess of Monaco

wearing an Écume de Diamants (Froth of Diamonds) © Karl Lagerfeld

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ua9Tsg6dc5g

I’m an innovative jeweler. I create pieces of jewelry out of titanium, I make use of 3D printing, I inscribe diamonds using a laser. Modern technology has a lot to offer when it comes to designing a piece of jewelry. I’m also atypical, as opposed to traditional or classic, as I receive guests to the Place Vendôme in a relaxed fashion with a glass of whiskey.

I have created my brand slowly and consistently. I got my start thanks to word of mouth. The creation of the tiara for HRH Princess Charlene of Monaco gave me credibility and fame. I have also collaborated in an official capacity as artistic director with Chanel Joaillerie and Louis Vuitton. I have worked in partnership with numerous luxury brands like Guerlain and Baccarat. That’s how I managed to distinguish myself amidst the big names associated with luxury in high jewelry.

I am one of the few creators living on the Place Vendôme. My clients come to me for a unique, immersive experience.

My collaborations with Chanel Joaillerie and Louis Vuitton over the past 25 years have allowed me to accumulate enough capital to gradually create and finance my own firm, while remaining independent.

My boutique reflects my passions, one of which is represented by the Surfer’s Hut, my surfboard, and my collection of sand. I wish to share this passion with my guests by making them feel that they have been immersed in another world. My boutique has a Secret Room for presenting my unique pieces, like the Treasure Room of the Saxon prince-electors in Dresden in the eighteenth century. Another room, called the Confidant, is devoted to discussion, design, and making things to measure. In the Salon Vendôme, which has a view of the Place Vendôme, you can enjoy whiskeys and the finest of chocolate by Alain Ducasse as you choose, in complete privacy, from among the pieces of jewelry on display.

Bäumer boutique, Place Vendôme

The Surfer’s Hut, boutique on the Place Vendôme © Lorenz Bäumer

Surfing with family on Sumba island, Indonesia © Lorenz Bäumer

The Market for jewelery, with a capital “M,” is currently in Asia, especially China. The Chinese have huge purchasing power. They wear jewelry. They are very knowledgeable about precious stones. Some have a very significant, even speculative sometimes, notion of investment that involves diversifying their holdings.

The Place Vendôme is a big global player, alongside other important players like Harry Winston in the United States and Graff in England.

The savoir-faire is generally to be found in the ateliers in France and Switzerland.

The market is experiencing a little growth thanks to China. Other countries are stagnating and lagging behind economically.

At the moment, we are in a phase characterized by the rupture between two generations with very different ways of thinking based on the old service and industrial economy and the new digital economy. This rupture is a major one in the history of humanity because it was brought about by young millennials. This highly informed generation wants to know “why.” The purchase of a piece of jewelry must make sense and sometimes must also be ethical.

The personalization and mixing of pieces of jewelry are other significant trends.

This rupture is a considerable challenge in my field as we have to keep up to speed. I adapt. I’m going through a reflective phase: How can one constantly reinvent oneself?

I offer them a moment of sharing, emotion, and escapism outside of time. A piece of jewelry immortalizes an important life event. It’s a way of telling someone you love them. I have a private moment with my client in relation to the couple’s plans, without forgetting the budget. I make recommendations, based on my sense of what each person wants, in order to create the message that each piece of jewelry carries. It must be in harmony with the person who chose to wear on it his or her finger, neck, or ears.

I want to be part of this generational shift. Those associated with the big web companies have considerable financial means and a vision that is very different from ours.

Luxury sometimes intimidates them. Some consider spending so much money on a piece of jewelry ridiculous. They would prefer to buy a plane, or things that give them freedom. My task is to promote, sometimes with the Comité Colbert, other values to these people who want to change the world. We can accompany them in this generational rupture by offering them items that stand out by virtue of their contrasting materials, their creativity, and the concepts behind them.

The Comité Colbert is considering repeating the “Colbert Festival” that it organized in December 2016, in collaboration with numerous luxury brands, to promote France. This festival offered guests more than 22 extremely personalized, immersive experiences in Paris that money cannot buy. As a member of the committee, I took part in an experience called “The Favorites of the Favorite,” in honor of Madame de Pompadour, along with other luxury brands like Krug Champagne, Le Meurice hotel, the parfurmier Kurkdjian, and Sèvres-Cité de la Céramique.

I have to reinvent the way we operate, which must be in keeping with the cultural and societal changes we are experiencing at the moment.

As regards my business, I need to conceive of it differently because people no longer go to boutiques and yet my Place Vendôme boutique is important.

In the meanwhile, I have been making myself more accessible. For example, I was the only jeweler at the exhibition at the Pavillon des Arts et du Design (PAD), in the Jardins des Tuileries, a stone’s throw from my boutique. I used this exhibition to convey a clear message to my clients about my collections, highlighting my transparency about prices, my savoir-faire, my way of working, and meeting them without a suit and tie. The idea was to sell the affordable jewelry I was presenting and thus attract a younger clientele.

I must also put together collections to exhibit internationally.

As regards my digital strategy, that involves telling our story and describing our world and our values. This has taken on a different rhythm thanks to social media. I also want to build partnerships to enhance my international presence through original events organized in quirky venues. These would be publicized by bloggers and influencers in direct contact with potential new clients. Of course, I will retain my links with my loyal customers.

My management style is friendly and relaxed. We trust in others. I encourage people to take initiative. Everyone is allowed to express themselves. We have a WhatsApp group for exchanging ideas.

I mainly employ young people whose talents I cultivate. I want them to feel at home in my firm. To that end, I established a start-up culture without an organizational hierarchy. This allows for the transmission of savoir-faire, as well as giving teams lateral training on prices, drawing, selling, technique, and design. My employees are trained to be versatile. This is highly desirable nowadays.

As a citizen of the world, I have put a program in place in Indonesia called “We Care.” I give Indonesian children greater educational opportunities. School is free in Indonesia, but school supplies are not. In order to help them financially, I designed jewelry inspired by the Indonesian culture of Sumba island, where I surf every summer. The locals make the jewelry and sell it to tourists. This enabled 2,000 children to go to school last year. In the “We Care” program, I know where the money is going, I play a role in the education of the children, I preserve craftsmanship and the love of beauty, the culture of this magnificent people.

At Palm Beach in the United States, I recently made a financial donation of $20,000 to the Alzheimer’s Foundation. I am proud of that.

In France, I take on many interns. I see it as my duty to share my knowledge.

In my designs, that which I am most inspired by is architecture and nature. I’m not tied to a particular period or style. I like all kinds of things that are out of the ordinary. For example, I launched a collection inspired by art and architects such as Frank Lloyd Wright, which included a Franck and Antonio Gaudi ring and Antonio earrings.

Meeting clients—or guests, as I like to call them—is my biggest source of inspiration. I have also been inspired by a beautiful stone, a technique, a drawing, a piece of savoir-faire…

In fact, it’s when I’m in the shower that I am most often inspired, as the mind is empty, water is falling on my head, and ideas can come freely. I also find inspiration when I’m surfing.

Half of our pieces are custom-made. I meet my client. We talk about an idea, a design, a shape, a budget, and we make a model (sometimes with a 3D printer) before finalizing the piece.

The manufacture of my pieces is outsourced to a dozen ateliers, chosen on the basis of their excellence. The manufacturing process is highly standardized with very rigorous specifications in order to respect all the steps involved, including the smelter, the gem cutter, the setter, the polisher, the engraver. In aiming for perfection, there is no room for error.

Moreover, in accordance with the Kimberley Process (KP), a feasibility study on the traceability of the diamonds is currently being carried out, with the unfalsifiability of the certification information being taken into account.

The “Black Light” collection is entirely black with splashes of very strong colors and the “Reflet” (Sparkle) collection is in titanium with sparkling metal surfaces created using a technique that involves a 3D printer.

I create two or three small collections each year, with prices ranging from €1,000 to… there is no limit.

Excellence and French art de vivre don’t mean anything to me. I’m a citizen of the world. My job is to offer my clients the best and share excellence with them. Living in Paris, the city is so beautiful that it serves as a source of inspiration. French craftspeople have incredible skill, but this is not at the heart of my story.

Everyone is the craftsperson of their own destiny.

19 Place Vendôme, 75001 Paris. https://www.baumer-vendome.com/en/

• An independent company created in 1992; its first boutique opened on the Place Vendôme beside the Ritz hotel in 2013
• 12 staff
• 250 pieces of jewelry created each year
• Masterpieces include: the swords of three members of the French Academy, HRH Princess Charlene of Monaco’s tiara
• Contemporary jeweler whose work is exhibited in the Jewelry Gallery of the Museum of Decorative Arts in Paris
• A member of the Comité Colbert since 2009
• Made a Knight of the Legion of Honor in 2010 and an Officer of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in January 2012
• Lorenz Bäumer wrote a little book on an ornate sledge in his collection that once belonged to Guy de Maupassant; he also wrote Dictionnaire Egoïste de Lorenz Bäumer (My Own Dictionary)
• Lorenz Bäumer’s manifesto:

His favorite sport: Surfing the best waves in Indonesia

His collections: 150 photos of the Place Vendôme, tie pins, Art Deco silverware…

His cabinet of curiosities: Guy de Maupassant’s sledge, a giant freshwater crocodile skull, a jewelry box from Burma…

His charitable work through “We Care”: Supporting access to education for children on Sumba island in Indonesia

Lorenz Bäumer’s manifesto, http://www.lorenzbaumer.com/lorenz-baumer/manifeste/

Jewelry by Lorenz Bäumer exhibited at the Museum of Decorative Arts in Paris © Lorenz Bäumer

The sword of a member of the French Academy © Lorenz Bäumer

Christian Razel and Lorenz Bäumer, Place Vendôme

This article, written by Forbes contributor Christian Razel, was first published in French on the Forbes France website