London’s Objet D’Émotion Launches Marylebone Boutique Featuring Exclusive Jewels, Fine Art And Accessories

Joining forces with an array of accomplished and cosmopolitan female jewelry designers, Valery Demure’s new gallery, Objet d’Émotion, located on Blandford Street in London’s Marylebone district, is powered by a thoughtful curation of rare and valuable jewels. The bejeweled space is open until the end of February 2022. According to founder and curator Valery Demure, “We’re calling this project a ‘three-month residency’. Each designer we are featuring has a history of creating stylistically accomplished, materially irresistible and technically refined adornments that are fabricated by highly skilled artisans.” The gallery’s core women jewelry designers are Nada Ghazal, Melanie Georgacopoulos, Francesca Villa, Yael Sonia, Stella Flame and Senem Gençoğlu of Kloto. “Joanna Dahdah of Beirut will also be joining us in the near future,” Demure elaborated via FaceTime.

“Few jewelry designers are wealthy enough to have their own physical boutique,” Demure explained, “so when I saw this small but wonderfully located space with its very British Art Nouveau stained glass and black framed window, plus the lovely entrance, I emailed some of the more engaged designers I already represent on the Objet d”Émotion online boutique. I proposed that we collectively share the space, manage it, organize the marketing, the social media activities, and present their work to an audience of craft, design and art enthusiasts.”

“We have conceived this as a collaborative platform for female creatives and as a site to present work that delights the jewelry lover and aesthete in all of us. Rare and handmade jewels, ceramics, glassware, textiles, handbags and art. This is what we offer.” Objet d’Émotion gallery also carries an intricately illustrated; colorful ‘Jewelry Memory Game’, which Demure dreamed up. It features drawings of some of the independent jewelry designers represented by Objet d’Émotion, such as Francesca Villa. Produced in Jaipur out of recycled paper in collaboration with Ecru and Priti Craft Boat, the game retails for 45£ and is an ideal gift for one who collects jewelry or simply appreciates fine jewelry design.

Other exclusive offerings include a rare and refined selection of Pramma luxury bespoke leather accessories. Made of highest quality Italian and French materials, these are created by Stefania Pramma, an Italian-born designer who has for two decades collaborated on accessory ranges for European, Asian and U.S. luxury brands. “I am excited to be offering Pramma as the design, quality and workmanship of these bags is just divine,” Demure noted. “We also have the charming ceramics by French artist Corinne Marchetti that are exclusive to us, such as the one-of-a kind ceramic Louis Vuitton handbag sculpture, which is priced at 3700£. The gallery is also launching our Objet d’Émotion ‘Peau-eme’ eau de parfum this holiday season,” she related. “It retails for 52£ and we have just received a new batch of Objet d’Émotion candles and room sprays created by the London-based scent artist Jonathan Ward.”

While Objet d’Émotion is showcasing some highly collectible independent women jewelry designers from Italy, Turkey, New York, Beirut and other parts of the globe who all fabricate well-crafted adornments, Demure explained her reasons for making this unique offering as follows: “The Objet d’Émotion fine jewelry selection and other offerings express my love of color, textures, shapes and forms. Our selection of jewels is accessibly priced yet chic. The quality of the jewels is what I value more than quantity. I believe that for too many years now, the market has been saturated with fine jewelry brands that look quite similar to each other. Our offering is highly original and sophisticated, it embodies new forms, concepts, styles and shapes by designers who are creative pathfinders.”

Noting that the part of Marylebone where Objet d’Émotion is situated looks and feels like a village, Demure related, “We are fortunate to have a supportive landlord, Loftus Family Property. Chiltern Street and its shops and galleries like Shreeji Newsagent, Galerie Artichoke curated by Laura de Gunzburg, the Anatome health and beauty shop and Perfumer H are some of our neighbors. I love Charlie Casely-Hayford’s approach to menswear, and he offers a wonderful bespoke service in his boutique,” she added. Also nearby is the Japanese store, Niwaki, which sells garden tools, Japanese knives and home utensils, plus denim wares. “Of course,” Demure continued, “our gallery is very close to the Chiltern Firehouse five-star hotel and restaurant, which draws people who appreciate innovative art, design and rare luxury goods to the area.” Objet d’Émotion is also located next door to Coco’s Nail Club, where some of Demure’s clients have already received high quality manicures and nail treatments.

Demure described the design and ambience of the Objet d’Émotion gallery with her customary wit and candor. “Our space is inviting and relaxed. I am a little tired of elitist, pretentious and intimidating stores,” she said with a laugh. “My dear friend Scott Wilson conceived our gallery plan so that jewelry vitrines and guest furniture are spaced far enough apart to allow comfort and practicality. Clients can walk around the jewelry vitrines with ease and they can sit down to enjoy a cup of tea if they feel like it. The red lips table and boob-shaped stools in the sitting area were designed by London-based artist Simone Brewster, and Deirdre Dyson created a custom wool rug entitled “Love Letter” that hangs on one of our walls. Our proprietary Objet d’Émotion candles, created by London-based scent artist Jonathan Ward, which are perfumed with essential oils of dried rose, saffron and white pepper, float through the gallery while soft and luscious jazz plays in the background. Clients can sip tea, coffee or water and we even break out the champagne from time to time!”

According to Demure, she is planning a colorful array of special events for the coming months. “I hope to host an evening with my friend Sonoe who is an antique kimono dealer,” she ventured. “Whilst I hope to launch the jewelry of Taher Chemirik at the gallery, I am also planning a small event-cocktail presentation-dinner during London Fashion Week with Turkish designer Senem Gencoglu, founder and designer of the jewelry brand Kloto. As we have been invited to participate to London Craft Week,” she continued, “we may keep this Chiltern Street space permanently. I would really like to develop more bespoke jewelry commissions, invite a wonderful Paris-based gem dealer friend to collaborate with us and propose his gemstones to our clients for one-of-a-kind creations.”

Demure is planning a private event in January that will entail a discussion on the subject of women creating, women curating and women who are actively collecting. “On the program are a well-respected curator friend of mine and a passionate collector of female-produced art alongside two of the designers we represent at the gallery, who are Francesca Villa & Stefania Pramma,” Demure explained. “We plan to offer both designers a joint installation at the gallery to coincide with the event, only for a couple of days, with videos of their work being produced at their ateliers.” Respecting the artistry of each designer involved in this project, “I want this space to feel warm and sincere,” Demure said. “I want clients to feel at home and perhaps enjoy a cup of coffee whilst flicking through a book on the art of jewelry and learning about our designers. My team is attentive and knowledgeable, they are passionate about our designers’ work and we want to share our passions.”