René Sim Lacaze (27 July 1901 – 5 January 2000) was a French

jewellery designer Jewellery design is the art or profession of designing and creating jewellery. This is one of civilization's earliest forms of decoration, dating back at least 7,000 years to the oldest known human societies in Indus Valley Civilization, Mesop ...

and artist. He played a major role in the development of the style known as European Art Deco.

Life and work

René Lacaze was born in Paris on 27 July 1901. His mother ran a tailoring and dressmaking business in Rue d’Alger, where Lacaze grew to love fashion from his early childhood. His uncle, Armand Bignon, often took the young Lacaze to visit museums, where he discovered a passion for art. A friend of Lacaze was a jeweller and regaled Lacaze with accounts of his work, describing how he created pieces of jewellery set with precious stones including diamonds. Lacaze felt drawn to the profession. He began a four-year training course at Atelier Mentel in Paris, a studio which worked with the most famous jewellers of the time:

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Boucheron Boucheron () is a French luxury jewellery and watches house located in Paris, 26 Place Vendôme, owned by Kering. History At the origins The House of Boucheron is a French family dynasty founded by Frederic Boucheron in 1858, with the opening ...

, Ancoc and Janésich. He interrupted this training in 1921 to complete his military service. After spending 26 months in the

French Air Force The French Air and Space Force (AAE) (french: Armée de l'air et de l'espace, ) is the air and space force of the French Armed Forces. It was the first military aviation force in history, formed in 1909 as the , a service arm of the French Army; ...

near Bourges, where he was deployed as a

cartographer Cartography (; from grc, χάρτης , "papyrus, sheet of paper, map"; and , "write") is the study and practice of making and using maps. Combining science, aesthetics and technique, cartography builds on the premise that reality (or an im ...

, he returned to Paris and introduced himself to the great jewellers in the

Rue de la Paix The rue de la Paix (English: Peace Street) () is a fashionable shopping street in the center of Paris. Located in the 2nd arrondissement of Paris, running north from Place Vendôme and ending at the Opéra Garnier, it is best known for its jew ...

and

Place Vendôme The Place Vendôme (), earlier known as Place Louis-le-Grand, and also as Place Internationale, is a square in the 1st arrondissement of Paris, France, located to the north of the Tuileries Gardens and east of the Église de la Madeleine. It is ...

. In 1923 Lacaze began to work for

Van Cleef & Arpels Van Cleef & Arpels is a French high-end luxury jewelry company. It was founded in 1896 by the Dutch diamond-cutter Alfred Van Cleef and his father-in-law Salomon Arpels in Paris. Their pieces often feature flowers, animals, and fairies, and hav ...

,Van Cleef & Arpels
/ref> where it was not long before his exceptional talent for drawing was spotted. Together with Alfred van Cleef's daughter, Renée Rachel Puissant, he took over as head of artistic and creative design at Van Cleef & Arpels in 1926. This period saw the creation of famous pieces of jewellery such as the

Minaudière A minaudière is a women's fashion accessory, generally considered a jewellery piece, intended to substitute for an evening bag. A case with compartments, it allows storage for several items in a small space, such as a makeup compact, lipstick, wat ...

and the introduction of the 'serti invisible' technique which enabled gemstones to be held in place without visible prongs or claws. In June 1928 Lacaze married his wife Simone; the couple went on to have four children. As he explains in his unpublished biography, in that year Lacaze added the first syllable of his wife's name to his own and henceforth was known as René Sim Lacaze. Lacaze ceased to work for Van Cleef & Arpels in 1941, moving to

Mauboussin Mauboussin is a French jewellery Jewellery ( UK) or jewelry (U.S.) consists of decorative items worn for personal adornment, such as brooches, rings, necklaces, earrings, pendants, bracelets, and cufflinks. Jewellery may be attached to the ...

and also running his own jewellery studio. He created pieces for illustrious clients including

Marlene Dietrich Marie Magdalene "Marlene" DietrichBorn as Maria Magdalena, not Marie Magdalene, according to Dietrich's biography by her daughter, Maria Riva ; however Dietrich's biography by Charlotte Chandler cites "Marie Magdalene" as her birth name . (, ; ...

Michèle Morgan Michèle Morgan (; née Simone Renée Roussel; 29 February 1920 – 20 December 2016) was a French film actress, who was a leading lady for three decades in both French cinema and Hollywood features. She is considered to have been one of the g ...

, Maurice Chevalier and the

Duchess of Windsor Wallis, Duchess of Windsor (born Bessie Wallis Warfield, later Simpson; June 19, 1896 – April 24, 1986), was an American socialite and wife of the former King Edward VIII. Their intention to marry and her status as a divorcée caused a ...

. Upon his retirement in 1968, Lacaze devoted himself to painting and produced numerous water-colours. He died at the age of 99 in

Maisons-Laffitte Maisons-Laffitte () is a Communes of France, commune in the Yvelines Departments of France, department in the northern Île-de-France Regions of France, region of France. It is a part of the affluent outer suburbs of northwestern Paris, from its ...

on 5 January 2000. Today, the name of René Sim Lacaze stands for the luxury online jewellery store RenéSim,RenéSim
/ref> founded in 2010 by Lacaze's grandson Maximilian Hemmerle and Hemmerle's business partner Georg Schmidt-Sailer.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lacaze, Rene Sim French jewellery designers 2000 deaths 1901 births Artists from Paris