The Gripoix House (Maison Gripoix) was a small family company founded in 1870 by Augustine Gripoix. Madame Gripoix and her daughter Suzanne used the pâte de verre technology – “glass paste”, in which a ceramic or plaster mold was filled with multi-colored glass chips and special binders and baked in an oven. However, later, Augustine Gripoix slightly modified the classic technology: she first melted the glass, and only then poured the glass mass into the molds. Cabochons were pure and rich in color, transparent and shiny.
The Gripoix House also produced its own line of jewelry. Beautiful necklaces in the form of flowers and insects were very popular with fashionistas at the beginning of the last century. Sarah Bernhardt wore them in life and on stage, and the fashionable couturier Charles Frederick Worth was fascinated by them. Madame Gripoix also collaborated with Paul Poiret, creating oriental-style costume jewelry for the couturier.
All famous designers ordered costume jewelry from Gripoix: Jeanne Lanvin, Jean Piguet, Christian Dior, Yves Saint Laurent. But the most striking collaboration was with Chanel.
Chanel’s laconic and simple dresses and suits required additional accessories. Jewelry did not fit all parameters. Firstly, Coco Chanel loved to experiment with the size of stones and the number of decorations in one look, and secondly, wearing millions during the day was simply unsafe. So Mademoiselle brought costume jewelry into fashion.
And the success of Chanel costume jewelry is directly related to the House of Gripox. Chanel first presented so-called costume jewelry (costume jewelry) in her Parisian boutique in 1921. The appearance of her own jewelry line was a logical continuation of the main concept of Coco Chanel – “luxury should be comfortable”.
High-quality materials Gripoix and the design of the best jewelers allowed Chanel jewelry to take first place among premium jewelry.
Today Gripoix continues to make jewelry. But it is no longer a family company. The style of jewelry has changed, it has become simpler, more graphic and modern. Our updated jewelry collection features unique pieces from the 60s, which were created by Coco Chanel. Historical Chanel jewelry with Gripoix glass is a real cult item. They are sold at auctions (they rarely appear on the open market), they are collected and passed down by inheritance.
