Sentinel

René Lalique, who had gained recognition as a jeweller, started designing perfume bottles in 1895. His major aim being to create beautiful objects, he imagined bottles endowed with magnified bottle caps even though they were designed to contain but a small quantity of perfume. These indispensable technical elements are magnified, personified and above all oversized. For Lalique, the shapes which seem to pour out on both sides of the bottle symbolise the strength of the perfume inside. Being up to four and a half times bigger, the cap becomes the body, the aura of the bottle. It retains its function of sealing the contents, and at the same time acquires an artistic and symbolic status. Technique and beauty are thus united in a single object.

I imagined a necklace that was directly inspired by René Lalique’s unique perspective. The clasp of the chain of the necklace, usually always hidden behind the neck, becomes the pendant of the jewel. Without losing its status of lock, it acquires visibility and becomes the gem of the necklace. Besides, I use the transparency and the magnifying glass effect of crystal to reveal the technical elements that it contains. As the keeper of a precious item, the clasp echoes the lock and its symbolic meaning, evoking ownership and the value of what it protects. The sentinel, like a watchman or a guardian, keeps a mysterious secret which could well be that of the bearer. Cristal, 925 silver, spring, 31 x 6 x 2,5 cm, 2016