White Bird

Just a mere two blocks from the big-name jewellers of the majestic Place Vendôme, White Bird is a world away in spirit. Stylish flea-market furniture and an earthy décor give the boutique a personable, laid-back feel, where shoppers can linger over gorgeous jewellery displays without feeling pressured or out of place.

Owner Stéphanie Roger has carefully cultivated this atmosphere for her hand-picked collection of precious jewellery, representing (mostly female) designers from around the globe and chosen with an expert eye. After 20 years working for the great French houses, including Cartier and Chaumet, Roger brings a unique expertise to the business, but what really sets White Bird apart is its uncommon aesthetic.

The pieces on display in this illustrate a deep engagement with design as expressed through a meeting of precious metals and gemstones, with a price point that is accessible to anyone. The pieces are frequently one-off limited editions which allows customers to purchase unique creations to the highest standards of refi ned craftsmanship.

Frequent special exhibitions highlight a particular designer – for most of the 20 or so designers featured in the boutique White Bird is their exclusive Paris outlet – the latest being the American designer Brooke Gregson, whose superb rough-hewn, raw or open-faceted stones of superb colours are interspersed with coloured diamonds and unusual materials, like silk. If diamonds are your thing, Naohiko Noguchi’s captivating necklaces, earrings and rings of delicate diamond clusters, some as fragile-looking as snowflakes, are a must-see.

For contemporary women used to following their own sense of style, the jewellery at White Bird is as much about beauty as it is about inspiration.

White Bird, 38 rue du Mont Thabor, 1st, + 33 1 58 62 25 86

 

 

 

Originally published in the June-July 2013 issue of France Today.