Parisian jeweller Marie Lichtenberg creates heirloom-worthy lockets

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.

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