Opening up to international markets

We opened our Paris boutique in 2004, located on the Cour Vendôme, even though the address is 7 place Vendôme. This store has brought us a wide, eclectic and above all international clientele. As at trade fairs, our window displays stand out from those of other jewellers in the area. In fact, what often happens is that people come to enquire about a piece of jewelry, then say they want to have a look around to see what others are doing, but they very often end up coming back.
When we opened in Lyon, then in Paris, we saw a lot more people coming to the Montbrison boutique. This gave us more credibility, we had become a real brand in the eyes of the public and our image was naturally legitimized. Word-of-mouth also worked in Paris. We had a Parisian clientele who were natives of Montbrison or the Loire, and it was mainly these people who talked about us. There's also the fact that my creations stand out, so people are intrigued and want to know more. Last but not least, we are one of the few Maisons to offer jewelry repairs on the Place Vendôme. Some people only repair their own jewelry, and that's not always the case!

Today, I have a real reputation as an artisan-creator, and people come to me for expertise they can't find elsewhere. Last year, a lady came from Paris to show me a stone. She had bought a rather expensive ruby and had gone to the jewellers at Place Vendôme to have it authenticated.

Several of them told her it was a fake stone, so they advised her: "Go and see Tournaire ". As soon as I saw the ruby, I was convinced it was real, so I took it apart and had it authenticated by a laboratory. The tests confirmed that the stone was real, and the lady who finally had a certificate was delighted. I have this expertise because I look at things for their beauty and subtle details, not for their value. And it's still word-of-mouth that has made me known, but that's something that's acquired over years and years.
In 2003, there was the partnership with Lacroix, which was a major event for us because the media were very interested in this collaboration and we benefited from the aura of this top-of-the-range ski brand. Laurent Masocro, from the communications department, and Bertrand Roy, President and CEO of Lacroix skis, approached us with the idea of doing something special: a ski-Jewellery. What I wanted was creative freedom; we were in an era of " Jewellery d'étal" where the more the merrier. I've never followed this logic, where beauty is measured by quantity. I like to draw a parallel between this fashion and painting: before, the more representative the canvas was of reality, the more valuable it was. Then came photography, the perfection of representation, and painters looked for new ways to express themselves, with the arrival of the Impressionists, Pointillists and so on. The difference between painting and Jewellery is that painting has evolved, Jewellery very little.