Dorette

At Dorette, gemstones travel between India and France, between the precious and the everyday. Emeralds, spinels, tsavorites and other vibrant gems meet freely — sometimes playfully. Joyful, unrestrained jewels that defy conventions and place emotion above all.

 Founded by Catherine Lévy in 2013, the house now continues its story under the creative guidance of her sisters, Juliette and Marion Lévy.

 Trained at the Louvre School and then at the National Institute of Heritage, Juliette Lévy, an art restorer, specialises in the restoration of polychrome sculptures. Marion is a graduate of the National School of Decorative Arts in Paris. She worked as an art director for the Peclers Paris office, and later co-founded Maison Georgette, a textile publishing company.

1.If you had to describe the Dorette spirit in three words, which would you choose?

Joyful, intuitive, friendly.

2.Dorette jewellery fascinates people from all over the world. Why do you think that is? What is the essence of a Dorette jewel?

M&J: Dorette jewellery is truly unique, and it shows! Each piece is composed like a particular piece of music, with its rhythm and flavour. It's a mix of fantasy and freedom in creation and rigorous craftsmanship in execution. Each piece is handmade from A to Z, bearing the mark of the artisan who shaped it; it testifies to his gesture...

3. Dorette jewellery seems to tell a story on every finger, on every ear. What would you like people to feel when wearing them?

We’d like each piece to be perceived as a talisman by the person who wears it — one that tells their own story and dreams. That’s the magic of these jewels: each is unique, yet never univocal; everyone can read their own message within it.

4. Tell us about your latest creations. What has inspired you recently?

It’s the stones,  their light, the magic of their changing colours  that guide us. We listen to them; they dictate the harmonies. We’re also deeply inspired by encounters, and by the people who love and wear our jewellery.

5. What is your connection to jewellery? Do you have any significant memory related to these objects?

M: We have always loved jewellery, as did our mother. Jewellery is an object of transmission, of identity, both a witness to a shared history and the bearer of a particularly intimate bond. Each piece must create a real relationship, with love at first sight followed by a dialogue that lasts, evolving over the years.

J: Our mother collected jewels, brought them back from her travels... Since childhood, we made jewellery with all kinds of materials... It was one of our games.

 6. What is your creative process at Dorette today? Have you changed the organization?

M&J: We have kept the same creative process and methodology. It works very fluidly and intuitively at first, in the joyful and luminous manipulation of stones; then it becomes more structured in a second phase.

7. Dorette jewellery is recognizable for its multicolored stones that coexist in a free and poetic manner. Have you kept the same sources in India? How do you choose your stones? Do you travel to India as Catherine did?

M&J: This is crucial, and we have, of course, kept the same sources and collaborators with whom Catherine had built relationships of trust.

India is more than an inspiration! Dorette jewellery also reveals the know-how of Indian workshops, skills that are unique in the world.

We choose stones as our sister did, one by one, for their brilliance, their colourful nuances; they must sparkle and speak to us! Each stone is different because none is calibrated

8. If you had a message for a young artist or creator, what would it be?

It's difficult to deliver a message! Everyone must find their own self-expression that reflects their culture and sensitivity, and have the desire to please by sharing colours and lights.

9. Chiness mini portrait :

 If Dorette were…

A stone: rather two stones a diamond and a piece of coloured glass!

A flower: a mysterious, plant-like flower, straight out of the enigmatic Voynich manuscript herbarium.

A dish: a delicious Indian pastry.

A work of art: The Ghent Altarpiece by Van Eyck — especially the angels’ faces, for the beauty and the exquisite detail of their adornments and jewels.

A book: The Castafiore Emerald by Hergé a must!

A country: India, of course…

An animal: our sister Catherine’s cat, Radjah, who was there at Dorette’s beginnings and loved to hide gemstones in the pads of his paws.