Celebrating almost a century of history, this exhibition illustrates how both fine and cultured pearls, which arrived in France in the 1920s, inspired Parisian jewellers and artists in the broadest sense. They all seem to have been driven by the same passion for pearls, whatever their means of artistic expression – opera, painting, photography, poster design, illustration or cinema – to the point that the pearl became one of the symbolic forms of the Roaring Twenties.

Seeking to penetrate the final mysteries of these biominerals, the exhibition embraces a crossover of history, art and science. This wide-ranging vision of knowledge is at the heart of L’ÉCOLE’s mission, confirming its determination to contribute not only to an awareness of the culture of jewelry, but also to deepening knowledge.

The exhibition “Paris, City of Pearls” presents a hundred pieces. After a gemological introduction on the origins of pearls, it traces the history of jewelers’ passion for pearls from the late nineteenth century to the present day.