Mellerio over time

The Mellerio family is a dynasty of French jewellers of Italian origin, from a small mountain village in northern Italy, in the Val Vigezzo.

In 1515, like many Italian artists, the Mellerios, along with other families from their valley, decided to move to France. They settled in Paris, on a street called rue des Lombards. A century later, an event was to change and transform the lives of the Mellerios. In 1613, Queen Marie de Medicis granted them privileges as a reward for foiling a plot against her young son Louis XIII. This decree authorises them to practice in France without having to submit to the administrative restrictions generally applied. All the kings of France up to Louis XVI renewed this exceptional privilege.

And so begins the singular and meteoric rise of the Mellerio family.

While the Rue de la Paix is becoming one of the most desirable avenues in Paris with the opening of numerous shops specialising in the luxury goods industry, Mellerio has the advantage of being one of the first to open.

In 1815, François Mellerio set up his shop on rue de la Paix, an ideal location where no jeweller was yet present. In 1830, when Marie-Amélie and Louis-Philippe d'Orléans acceded to the French throne, Mellerio was appointed official supplier to "Her Royal Highness, the Queen of the French".

She authorised the Mellerio family to place this title at the entrance of their house. For the duration of her reign, Marie-Amélie did not use the Crown Jewels Collection for the sake of simplicity, but wore her personal jewels, most of which were made by Maison Mellerio.

During the Second Empire, balls were organised in the capital and were admired by all the European courts. These social gatherings were an opportunity to reveal the latest acquisitions from Parisian jewellers. During this period, the Emperor Napoleon III and above all Empress Eugénie, with whom the House maintained almost friendly relations, were Mellerio's most important buyers.

At the end of the 19th century, it was the Dutch Court that filled Mellerio's order books. Notably with this impressive set of rubies, often worn today by Queen Maxima of the Netherlands. The set is composed of 36 exceptional rubies, and was ordered for the coronation of Queen Emma in 1879.

The foreign clientele grew considerably and included members of almost all the European nobility. The store in the rue de la Paix welcomed personalities from all over the world: the Orléans, the Rothschilds, the courts of Spain, Russia, Italy and Belgium, diplomats, intellectuals and artists...

A century later, a new innovative and audacious patent was filed in 1951 to protect the invention of a decorative nail ornament. These fake nails, made of palladium and diamonds, feature a frame that follows the contour of the nail as it comes into contact with the finger, with the outside of the frame adorned, decorated and perforated with diamonds.

At the beginning of the 20th century, society began to lose interest in Art Nouveau jewelry. Fine stones were gradually abandoned in favour of precious stones. Rivers made a comeback at the beginning of the decade. The most emblematic piece from this period was the pearl necklace. The straight cut was in fashion, and there was no better jewelry than the pearl sautoir to enhance this silhouette.
Mellerio was sensitive to changes in fashion and took advantage of this new trend, becoming the Parisian House's reference for pearls.

Subsequently, the House's links with fashion became closer. In the 1950s, Mellerio signed a number of collaborations with leading couturiers such as Christian Dior Couture, Pierre Balmain and Balenciaga on the catwalks.

For 14 generations, Maison Mellerio has willingly inserted a reminder of its origins into its contemporary creations by means of a subtle geometric formula, totally discreet yet recognizable among a thousand initiates : this wink - devoid of any ostentation but equivalent to a signature - is illustrated by an oval inscribed in an ellipse. This ovoid motif has lent its mystery to the most famous creations of the jeweler on the rue de la Paix, multiplying in particular on the legendary peacock feather brooch designed for Empress Eugenie in 1868.

In this characteristic cut, the shape and memory of a mythical stone is reflected: the Beau Sancy. This diamond of Indian origin, of prodigious purity, was the stone of choice of Marie de Medici. This expertise has been passed from generation to generation since 1613, and is now the signature of the Maison's watchmaking, jewellery and fine jewellery.

Color is one of the Maison's signatures, which can be traced back to Mellerio's Italian origins. This signature is also found in the chromaticism of its creations. Playing on contrasts and cameos, Mellerio jewelry creates a playful, poetic palette that evokes Mediterranean joy. The brilliance of yellow gold, the softness of pink gold and the strength of green gold reinforce the play of colours. Colorful pieces of jewelry that combine historical heritage with contemporary vitality become a source of pleasure and, even more, an invitation to dream.