The School of Jewelry Arts follows the emerald's journey from December 4, 2026, to June 13, 2027, from Antiquity to Spanish galleons. Free admission with reservation, Boulevard Montmartre.

Engraving a portrait in a nine-carat emerald is a kind of madness. A 16th-century lapidary took the risk for Archduke Ernest of Austria, and the stone has survived four centuries intact. It opens the journey that The School of Jewelry Arts, the Van Cleef & Arpels school, is dedicating to the most capricious of gems, the one that cracks, chips, and does not withstand cutting well, to the point that the Romans mounted it in its raw state, as evidenced by a 4th-century ring.

From antiquity to galleons, from mines to cutting centers, Europe gradually established itself as a crossroads of this trade. A gold orb studded with Colombian emeralds, recovered from the treasure of Nuestra Señora de Atocha, speaks of the Atlantic route, while an Indian taj on loan from the Château d'Écouen speaks of the Mughal route. A crystal still embedded in its host rock reminds us, in passing, where it all came from, before human intervention.

Science has finally caught up with the stones. Today, analyses determine the geographical origin of an emerald, so that each gem reveals its provenance, and ancient networks are reconstructed without archives, through the objects themselves.

Did you know? The School of Jewelry Arts also offers courses open to everyone, with no prerequisites, covering everything from the history of jewelry to workshop techniques.

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THE SCHOOL OF JEWELRY ARTS
From December 4, 2026 to June 13, 2027
Hôtel de Mercy-Argenteau, 16 bis boulevard Montmartre, 75009 - Metro: Grands Boulevards (lines 8/9)
Tue. to Sun. 11am-7pm, late opening on Thursdays until 8:30pm - Closed December 25 and January 1st
Free entry with reservation