Jewellery

Parisian jeweller Marie Lichtenberg creates heirloom-worthy lockets

There's some special kind of magic crafted into Marie Lichtenberg's jewellery. Best known for her whimsical, hand-enamelled lockets, the Parisian jeweller combines ancestral traditions with the rarest of materials

By Anne Sophie Mallard

Once a stylist for Elle France, Marie Lichtenberg decided to switch her perspective after a life-changing journey to India – her Eat, Pray, Love moment . There, she obtained delicate materials that she turned into custom shirts with a little help from the jewellery designer Pascale Monvoisin who was, like her, almost always on a plane between Paris and Delhi. He added precious buttons to her embroidered pieces and they were a huge success with people wanting more. But Lichtenberg’s line of sight was already set onto another kind of accessory.

In India, the perfect place for ancestral jewellery-making traditions, Lichtenberg remembered her first love for jewellery. Before fashion, she would play as a kid at her mother’s Parisian boutique in the Golden Triangle, trying on vintage golden rings and 80’s style necklaces. But in her own jewellery box was a necklace that connected her not only to her own family, but to her mother’s French Caribbean upbringing.

Gifted to her as a teen, the special locket was passed on in the Creole culture from one generation to another as a memory of emancipation. More in touch with her solar personality, she added a bohemian touch to her love lockets with colourful beaded chains, multi- coloured cotton ties, hand-made enamel, protective eyes and empowering mantras such as Believe, Prayers come up, blessings come down or Love You To The Moon And Back.

Like this? Delight in Patcharavipa’s new collection of Lignes d’Été couture rings