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The Story

Suzanne Belperron

Elegant and audacious, Suzanne Belperron pioneered a new aesthetic in jewelry. While perhaps the most important woman jeweler of the twentieth century, she is relatively unknown today except to collectors. Asked once why she never signed her work, Madame Belperron replied, “My style is my signature.”

ABOUT BELPERRON

Belperron is a fine jeweler selling vintage jewelry and reprised designs by the late designer, Suzanne Belperron (1900-1983). After beginning her career with Boivin in 1919, Belperron pioneered a new aesthetic in jewelry: sensual, tactile and arrestingly modern. With influential clients such as Elsa Schiaparelli, the Duchess of Windsor and Diana Vreeland, Belperron is widely recognized as one of the most influential designers of the 20 th century.

In 2015, Belperron LLC opened its first flagship salon in over forty years on New York City’s Fifth Avenue, designed by noted architect Daniel Romualdez. Bringing all of her work under one roof, the Belperron salon features the largest selection of vintage Belperron, many from important private collections from around the world. Today, the Belperron collection, created entirely from her archive of over 9,300 gouache paintings and designs, embodies the essence of Belperron’s aesthetic. Nico Landrigan, President of Verdura and Belperron, is responsible for the revival of Madame Belperron’s work. His mission: to find and create bold and timeless jewelry that speaks to a new generation of jewelry collectors.

Scroll to explore the Belperron timeline

The Belperron timeline

Suzanne Belperron, née Suzanne Vuillerme, is born on September 26th in Eastern France, in the town of Saint-Claude (above). A year later, the family moves to Besançon, home of the first public museum in France and birthplace of the national watch industry.

Suzanne graduates from the Besançon École des Beaux Arts and moves to Paris where she is employed by the Maison Boivin as a modeliste -dessinatrice, or model-maker and designer.

1928

Vogue Paris features four jewels from the Maison Boivin bearing Belperron's distinctive style. As the firm's sole designer and co-directress with Jeanne Boivin, Suzanne transforms the company's aesthetic.

Bernard Herz, one of Paris' premier stone and natural pearl dealers, invites Belperron to design exclusively under his company name, B. Herz. Suzanne decides that her jewels will not be signed, stating "My style is my signature."

Vogue Paris pronounces a revival in the art of jewelry, featuring images of Elsa Schiaparelli modeling her own Belperron jewelry from the Maison B. Herz.

1934

Belperron's jewels first appear on the cover of Vogue Paris.

King Edward VIII begins his patronage of Belperron as he courts Wallis Simpson, for whom he would later abdicate the throne.

Pictured: The Duke and Duchess of Windsor, 1959. The duchess is wearing Belperron's emerald and gold Couronne cuff

At Bernard Herz's insistence, Suzanne purchases B. Herz and renames the company Suzanne Belperron, S.A.R.L. to preserve the business during the Nazi occupation of Paris.

1943
BERNARD HERZ IS ARRESTED BY THE NAZI REGIME. DESPITE SUZANNE'S EFFORTS AS A MEMBER OF THE RESISTANCE TO SECURE HIS RELEASE, HE WAS DEPORTED AND DID NOT SURVIVE THE WAR.

Bernard's son, Jean, returns to Paris after five years as a prisoner of war. Having considered herself more the firm's custodian than owner, Suzanne offers the company to Jean, who in turn makes her an equal partner in Jean Herz-Suzanne Belperron, S.A.R.L.

Such was her standing as a créatrice-joaillière that the French state awards Suzanne Belperron the rank of Knight of the Legion of Honor. The Chicago Daily Tribune proclaims: "What Chanel and Schiaparelli are in the French fashion world... Belperron is in the predominantly male fraternity of Paris jewelers."

1974
Jean and Suzanne decide to retire and close the business in 1974, Madame Belperron's 55th year in haute joaillerie, and her 42nd in partnership with the Herz family.

The Duchess of Windsor's jewelry collection is sold at auction, the largest jewelry sale in history, including at least 16 pieces by Belperron, most of which were unidentified.

Ward Landrigan of Verdura begins his association with the Société Nouvelle Herz-Belperron, making a limited selection of Belperron's designs in Paris over the next six years. Each piece is signed St. N. Herz Belperron.

The Landrigan family acquires the exclusive worldwide rights to the Belperron archive of over 9,200 designs. Research begins on an illustrated monograph of Suzanne Belperron's life and work.

2012
Suzanne Belperron's personal jewelry collection is sold at auction in Geneva. Belperron, LLC acquires 22 of the 60 lots for the Belperron museum collection.

Forty-one years after Suzanne Belperron's retirement, Maison Belperron reopens its doors in New York, at 745 Fifth Avenue.

The definitive illustrated biography of her life and work, Jewelry by Suzanne Belperron, is published by Thames & Hudson, with introductions by the late Jean Herz and his grandson, David Herz.

Belperron, LLC celebrates the 100th anniversary of Suzanne's final year at the École des Beaux-Arts in Besançon with a collection of jewels inspired by her childhood studies. Carefully preserved a century after they were first painted, the 22 paintings from her school years bear the first iterations of her now famous design lexicon, which launched Suzanne's career yet rarely changed over a lifetime of study. Pictured above: Suzanne's student renderings for a turquoise, onyx and diamond jabot pin with lotus and scarab motifs, Ecole des Beaux-Arts, Besançon, 1916–1918, and the Lotus ring.

The Story

Suzanne Belperron

Suzanne graduates from the Besançon École des Beaux Arts and moves to Paris where she is employed by the Maison Boivin as a modeliste -dessinatrice, or model-maker and designer.

Vogue Paris pronounces a revival in the art of jewelry, featuring images of Elsa Schiaparelli modeling her own Belperron jewelry from the Maison B. Herz.

BERNARD HERZ IS ARRESTED BY THE NAZI REGIME. DESPITE SUZANNE'S EFFORTS AS A MEMBER OF THE RESISTANCE TO SECURE HIS RELEASE, HE WAS DEPORTED AND DID NOT SURVIVE THE WAR.

Jean and Suzanne decide to retire and close the business in 1974, Madame Belperron's 55th year in haute joaillerie, and her 42nd in partnership with the Herz family.

Suzanne Belperron's personal jewelry collection is sold at auction in Geneva. Belperron, LLC acquires 22 of the 60 lots for the Belperron museum collection.

The definitive illustrated biography of her life and work, Jewelry by Suzanne Belperron, is published by Thames & Hudson, with introductions by the late Jean Herz and his grandson, David Herz.

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