on site.

The first step in the creation of each piece is to sculpt a wax model to give shape to the idea behind it. A mould is made of each of these wax models to be used for the casting process. For the pieces of the Tooth & Claw collection a mould is made directly from the natural curiosities used for each piece.

The next step of the process is the casting itself. There are two methods employed for this step of the process, either Delft clay casting, inspired by wet sand casting (one of the earliest forms of casting known to man) or lost wax casting. The lost wax method is used for the pieces of the permanent collections that will be reproduced many times. The Delft clay casting method is used for one-off or bespoke pieces as each mould can only be used once.

Post-casting clean-up and assembly of each piece, as well as polishing and stone setting are done in-house and by hand.
In the event that a step of the process, such as gold plating or engraving, needs to be outsourced, Violette works exclusively with recognized and respected Parisian craftspeople and ateliers who adhere to the exacting guidelines and practices of the French the métiers d’art tradition.

Because each piece of Violette Stehli Jewelry is made entirely by hand in Paris using only locally procured metals, stones, and resources, the city of Paris has attributed the brand with the Fabriqué à Paris certification, which provides an added guarantee of the principles that are so essential to the brand’s ethos.

Video by Cécile Chabert
Photos by Nathalie Trëgouet