The peak of extravagant luxury

Jewellery designer Lorenz Bäumer creates dazzling pieces from his Paris base, collaborating with the likes of Louis Vuitton and Guerlain. Lola Saab talks to him about his inspirations and creations
PHOTOGRAPHS OF THE DESIGNER BY FRED MARIGAUX

JEWELS MAY RANGE from simple pieces to overly radiant and amazingly breathtaking complex creations. They may define one’s personality or may exemplify and highlight an outfit.

Paris-based jewellery designer, Lorenz Bäumer artistically combines various elements to create jewellery representing great sophistication. Bäumer designs watches, brooches, rings, bracelets, necklaces, earrings, perfume bottles and other wonderful pieces, either to wear or simply to hold. He forms luxurious creations, marvellously dazzling and desirable to the eye.

The designer’s deep adoration for the art and for beauty allows him to outline absolute detailed work and extravagant designs. The highly talented jeweller beautifully constructs distinctive and trendy work, portraying awe-inspiring creativity. His own line is classified under three categories: poet, gardener and architect. Each theme corresponds to Bäumer’s passions: one conveys a poetic message, the other unfolds nature’s inevitable beauty and the last is a form of masterful sculptural creations, sometimes geometric.

Since 1995, Bäumer’s showroom, located at Place Vendôme in Paris, has welcomed his clients into a world inspired by his vivid imagination, allowing his wonderfully unique pieces to take centre stage. Profound colours spectacularly shine and sparkle.
High-end name brand, Louis Vuitton, collaborated with Lorenz Bäumer to form a jewellery collection called L’âme du voyage (The Soul of the Trip), which was unveiled and revealed to the public in October 2009. Bäumer has also joined forces with other brand names to form chic innovations such as the Le Rouge G lipstick for the French perfume house, Guerlain.

Bäumer was recently one of the iconic fashion figures to be featured at the French Institute Alliance Française’s annual Fashion Talks series in New York.

We caught up with the talented designer who gave us a first-class ticket on an unforgettable trip into his universe, exposing his personal insights about his invigorating designs and ideas.

Lucire: Can you tell us how you began designing jewellery?

Lorenz Bäumer: I have always designed jewellery. It started in my childhood … We always have this thing, I guess, which relates us to our parents, and my parents were diplomats and my mother would be my mother and she would put on the jewellery and she would be a princess. So I always wanted to have that magic stick which turns normal mothers into princesses. And so that is how I got started into doing jewellery. Actually, I started doing them with corks from champagne bottles and I would create them into jewellery and I would give them to my mother as a very small kid, and that has been a passion that has lasted ever since. It is not only about designing jewellery; it is also about designing other things as well … [I] could design lipsticks, furniture or watches … so there are a lot of ways to express your creativity.

What kind of emotions do you feel when you are designing?

It is called something like a ‘flow’. When you are designing, it is almost like it flows when it goes really well. Sometimes it could also be difficult, sometimes you can get stuck. But it is a peaceful, flowing and happy moment when you design something which you really like … so it is a way to evade yourself or to create something that is not really in the present but in the future.

There are very interesting and happy moments, but there is a lot of other things also that I do, which is like finding the stones, working with the workshops, meeting some clients and also running the company.

How do you decipher which stone to use for a certain creation?

You might start with a stone or you might start with an idea and then try to find the stone. So there is not really a rule, it depends on the moment and how you feel, what will inspire you. You know if I design for someone specific, then it is obviously a very different thought process … or I might design something I really love and I will just design it for myself because I love it.

At the 2011 Oscars, actress Gwyneth Paltrow wore a pair of earrings, a ring and a brooch from Louis Vuitton’s Soul of the Trip jewellery collection. Could you elaborate a little more on what her jewellery ensemble was based upon?

They were based upon very happy moments with a lot of colours, feathers, happiness and movement … so it was about being happy, basically what jewellery should be all about.

When you are designing for someone in particular, are there certain aspects that you look for in the person?

I look a little bit at about everything. It is a mixture of their personality, what they want to wear, for what occasion, how comfortable they will be, how much they are willing to spend, how long they are willing to wait. It is all these little ingredients I put together … then I design something for them.

You currently have a salon at Place Vendôme. Why did you choose this particular location in Paris?

I chose this area not only because it is in the heart of Paris, but because it is the heart of jewellery making … every jeweller dreams of having a store on Place Vendôme because it is so prestigious and historically, it’s been so important for the world of jewellery.

Is there another brand name you plan to collaborate with?

No, I probably will keep on doing collaborations with Guerlain and other people. I am just very happy like this, and I am already very busy with everything that I have. And it takes a lot of time to design some piece of jewellery, it is a great involvement.

How long does it usually take you to design a piece of jewellery?

You know, I will give you the proper answer, it takes forty-five years to design a piece of jewellery … because, it might just take a second, but it is from building up all of the experiences and whatever I have to create that piece, and once you have the design on paper then there comes the time when you need to go to the workshop, then finding the stone and all that … so that can take from a couple of months to a year, depending on the complexity of the piece.

Do you have any emotions that stir up when you see someone wearing your design?

It is always a nice surprise when I see someone wearing my jewellery that I don’t know. It is a great, interesting and fun moment for me, but, then, we move on. All designers and the creative people want to be loved and having somebody wear your creations, it means, ‘Oh, I love you creations.’ It really make[s] you feel good.

Is there a particular jewellery piece that stands as your favourite?

I made my own watch, with my own skull inside … It is actually my own [skull] which we got out of the scanner. So it is something that I designed for myself … I like that piece.

There are four pieces in the Museum of Decorative Arts in Paris in their collection, which I also love.

Can you tell us what your logo represents?

It actually took me awhile to find something that I like and that represented me, so there were a few different ones before that one … then one day, I just found a way to link the L and the B and then I noticed that it was a heart. So everybody sees a heart in there—it is actually not a heart it is my initials, so I think it really fits what we are trying to do. It is kind of rounded; it has a lot of different meanings … When a logo or a signature is good, it really represents, you know, what the company is all about. I think it is really simple, but it works for me, because my work is about love …

Do you think about opening more salons in and around Paris or eventually going international?

Perhaps, for now, we have some salons, because I thought, at that specific time, that it was the right way to show my jewellery and now I am thinking about doing it in other ways, too. If I get some interesting opportunity, I might do something here in the States or in China or in other places.

Is there a specific motto that represents your line?

I have a phrase that is my personal phrase, it is not the phrase of the company. It is actually engraved around a watch which says—it’s a Latin phrase, and it says—‘Each one is the artisan of his destiny.’

Why did you choose this specific phrase?

It was engraved on a fountain in my grandmother’s garden. I thought my great-grandfather must have really liked it, so I just kept it … •

Lola Saab is Paris editor of Lucire.

Lorenz Bäumer with one of his pieces.


Art Déco brooch from the Architect collection.


Fil Poire earrings from the Architect collection.


Flamant Rose earrings from the Gardener collection.


Jardin earrings from the Gardener collection.


Mikado ring from the Architect collection.


Ampoule ring from the Poet collection.


Cardinal ring in blue tourmaline from the Poet collection.