Page 1 of The Jeweler of Queens by Mellerio dits Meller

portrait jean-baptiste mellerio mylord the jeweller of queens 1765 ­ 1850 it is thanks to jean-baptiste mellerio a colourful and dynamic figure that mellerio ­ a jeweller that although recognised was hitherto smaller in size ­ became the jeweller of queens like most of his contemporary cousins jean-baptiste was born and grew up in craveggia a small village in northern italy his father his uncles and more generally the men in the village jewellers or tradesmen in paris returned to their country every summer although he was the ninth child in the family his mother having discerned in him a remarkable intelligence gave considerable importance to his education from his earliest years jean-baptiste left the valley of his birth in 1777 at the age of 12 to follow his father who delighted in his son s drive and innate business sense he had a little box commonly known as a marmotte made for him which jean-baptiste hung around his neck when giving his sales pitch at the markets and in the busiest areas of the city his gift of the gab and his italian accent went down a storm one day when he was accompanying his father to versailles jean-baptiste noted that the most beautiful carriages going to the court stopped for a moment before going through the gate on the avenue de paris he took up position in this spot with his marmotte queen marie antoinette returning from her walk noticed this unique merchant and ordered her retinue to go and see what he was offering the table was carefully arranged and jean-baptiste presented his jewels so persuasively that the lady of honour was won over and bought several pieces.the young man quickly drew interest made a name for himself executed with promptness and intelligence the small commissions that were given to him and soon became the supplier to the nobles of the court when his father retired in 1785 jean-baptiste was already well established during the revolutionary events of 1793 jeanbaptiste left france and set up in geneva on his return in 1799 he decided to set up the company once more in a suitable location and opened a shop at 22 rue vivienne mellerio-meller a la couronne de fer the establishment rapidly prospered his clientele appreciated his frankness taste and distinguished manners his family respected his tenacity and rather envied his sumptuous lifestyle affectionately nicknaming him mylord his generosity and kindness became legendary and each of his return visits to his home village of craveggia was accompanied by memorable celebrations at the end of a brilliant career jeanbaptiste retired to the château that he had acquired in ozouer-la-ferrière where he died in 1850 page 1 news auctions index page 2/3 know-how hier et aujourd hui royal jewels creation variations on the neuf myriade the miss m the mutine the talisman collection page 4 portrait of a mellerio j.b mellerio mylord encounters events agenda encounters events september 2006 national heritage days the 23rd national heritage days once again gave mellerio dits meller the opportunity to welcome an enthusiastic and curious public to whom were revealed the history of the house and its jeweller-goldsmith craftsmanship along with its most recent creations throughout an initiatory journey marked by demonstrations by our master jewellers and designers visitors were thus able to discover part of our know-how as well as some of the house s most remarkable creations sporting trophies roland garros ballon d or etc fine jewellery sets burmese rubies kashmir sapphires colombian emeralds etc and new timepiece collections mutines miss m grande neuf among others november 2006 exhibition in luxembourg on november 7th the most secret of jewellers from the la rue de la paix met the no less discreet members of the prestigious munster circle their library played host ­ with the legendary luxembourgish sense of hospitality ­ to our house and its very latest jewellery and timepiece collections for several days december 2006 the princes dinner on december 6th mellerio dits meller welcomed the heirs to some of the house s greatest family customers in an intimate setting for the first event of this kind exceptional pieces from the four corners of the globe were on display a tiara of diamonds and emeralds which has long belonged to the leuchtenberg family cousins of the beauharnais family the tiara of diamond flowers belonging to queen margerita of italy diamond necklaces and brooches jewels of amethysts and yellow quartz from the early 19th century to name just a few la princesse béatrice de bourbon-siciles la princesse caroline napoléon et le prince michel de grèce admirent le fameux diadème de la reine margerita d italie the evening was punctuated by a dinner served in the private rooms of le grand véfour this mecca of french art de vivre has close ties with the history of france but also with the house as it juxtaposed the first boutique opened by jeanbaptiste mellerio in 1799 the warm and friendly atmosphere of the evening was an encouragement to repeat this event every year jjanuary 2007 tiara exhibition in tokyo on january 15th all of the japanese press and television media thronged to the bunkamura museum at the heart of tokyo for the preview of an exceptional exhibition of tiaras entitled dignity and beauty the story of the tiara an unprecedented event in the history of jewellery as over a hundred tiaras were on display including eleven pieces designed by mellerio dits meller illustrating almost two centuries of the creation of a quite singular piece of jewellery the symbol of sovereignty and power elegance and seduction this exhibition which is running in tokyo until march will subsequently continue in nigata and then kyoto until the end of july will the target of 500,000 visitors be surpassed without a doubt 9 1 9 rue de la paix editorial the enthusiastic welcome that you gave to the first issue of 9 rue de la paix is an expression of support whose value we appreciate we would like to thank you and hope that this second edition in homage to all of our clients will bring you just as much satisfaction the jeweller of queens mellerio dits meller has never considered being the official supplier to the royal courts as its sole vocation the house may have created and fashioned representative or state jewels for royalty but it has always aspired first and foremost to be the jeweller of feelings giving precedence for each client male and female alike with the same regard and the same devotion to personal intimate jewellery jewellery for oneself queens and empresses were well aware of this and liked to go to mellerio in a personal capacity to be welcomed there above all for themselves in this setting for a brief moment ­ a precious interlude of intimacy and freedom ­ they were able to escape the weight of protocol to express their wishes and give rein to their imagination they felt listened to and understood in this regard marie antoinette the house s first royal client appreciated the small trinkets precious boxes and sweet boxes which she offered to her closest friends josephine empress of france at the time insisted on placing orders under her maiden name 2006 was the opportunity for the house of mellerio dits meller to reaffirm this special link with its clients and to dedicate several collections to them new light feminine lines thus came to birth in jewellery and timepieces the miss m and mutines watches jewels of multicoloured sapphires talisman rings and pendants etc but also the limited edition grande neuf an automatic version of the house s classic timepiece the success of the latter has prompted us to launch an expanded collection whose colours will surprise and seduce you finally we were delighted to welcome you at the numerous events organised this year in this respect a large number of you were present for our conferences on precious stones which continued to meet with unmitigated success we will be repeating them this year given the increasing numbers of visitors during the national heritage days we will be adapting our exhibition layout in order to present you our expertise and collections you also participated extremely generously in our charity sale for autistic children thank you once again a great many of you also gave a positive response to our invitations to tokyo luxembourg or paris we would like to thank you for your loyalty and invite you to discover even more in the following pages n°2 april 2007 the guests her royal highness princess adélaïde of orléans his royal highness the duc d anjou their uncle prince michel of greece and his wife princess marina along with their imperial highnesses béatrice de bourbon-siciles and her daughter caroline napoléon thus had the opportunity to view and try on these magnificent historical items of jewellery the evening was presided over by vincent meylan a passionate jewellery expert and loyal friend of the mellerio family who revealed ­ to everyone s great delight ­ a few anecdotes about these jewels and our hosts ancestors auctions auction rooms offer the opportunity for an astonishing stroll through the centuries where the history of the jewels and that of those who wore them merge where intrinsic and sentimental value intertwine during the universal exhibition of 1900 the house of mellerio dits meller presented among other marvels twelve spectacular pieces on the theme of the peacock a recurrent theme in the history of the house the peacock was on this occasion approached in a surprising way detachable shoulder brooches dog collars of astonishing finesse to such an extent that the top specialists including j.l bertrand considered them to be works of genius the house conserves the original drawings and descriptions for each of them in its order books and workshop books waiting for the day when passed down from hand to hand century after century these jewels finally reappear among the twelve pieces unveiled in 1900 and sold following the exhibition four have been precisely located today while the others still belong to the secret of the safes one of these four pieces known to our house as one of the masterpieces of the catalogue of a large american foundation surprised the closed world of collectors and made a splash on 23 february 2006 on that date it was offered by sotheby s during an auction for the tsunami victims of 26 december 2005 immediately acquired by an american collector it passed from hand to hand from capital to capital and came to rest for the length of an exhibition in paris presented at the 23rd biennale des antiquaires de paris in september 2006 the peacock thus returned to the restored grand palais in which it had resided a century earlier agenda la princesse adélaïde d orléans essaye le diadème d émeraudes et diamants des leuchtenberg le prince charles-philippe d orléans et la duchesse de cadaval séduits par une rivière de diamants de 1830 spring private conferences in our salons on the theme of diamonds autumn revening to mark the reopening of 9 rue de la paix after renovations on the theme of know-how and heritage 9 rue de la paix 75002 paris france tél 33 1 42 61 57 53 www.mellerio.fr

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