“I can still remember watching my mother getting ready to go out”, revealed Lorenz Bäumer in an interview with The Financialist, “When she put on her jewelry, it always seemed to me that she suddenly transformed into a princess”. And it is this fond childhood memory and his mother’s fairytale-like transformation that have provided the inspiration for the fine jeweler’s designs to this day.
Born in the US, Lorenz moved to Paris at age 16 where, perhaps surprisingly given his subsequent career path, he chose to study engineering at the city’s prestigious École Centrale. Throughout his studies, a long-held fascination with fine jewelry continued, and when he graduated in 1988 he bravely decided to channel his energies into this personal passion, rather than enter industry, and to concentrate on establishing himself as a credible designer.
A testament to his determination as well as his talent, Lorenz opened his first showroom just a year after graduating, selling his own line of costume jewelry. Three years later, he began designing pieces for luxury fashion houses, including Chanel, before taking the decision to devote his time to crafting fine jewelry. He now creates both bespoke and ready-to-wear pieces, which are sold from his namesake boutique on Place Vendôme.
A relative newcomer to the field, Lorenz has already carved a successful niche for himself among his more well-established contemporaries. An example of this success came in 2011 when, after being invited to submit a design for the tiara to be worn by Princess Charlene of Monaco at her wedding to Prince Albert, his ‘Ecume de Diamants’ was chosen from among designs by some of the world’s most renowned brands.
The Ecume de Diamants Tiara / Photo: theeyeofjewelry.com
Lorenz’s love of architecture and poetry clearly influence his contemporary pieces, which combine geometric shapes and pure lines with feminine touches. He is known as a rule breaker, eschewing many of fine jewelry’s classic codes in favor of unique combinations of materials. The Paris-based designer was one of the first to include semi-precious stones such as tourmaline and amethyst in his diamond pieces.
His current Sumba collection was inspired by the Indonesian island of the same name, where he used to spend summer with his family as a child. Representing the pebbles that children typically collect from the beach, seven different stones, including black onyx, red jasper and pink quartz, are set in a variety of gold surrounds. The collection also includes an interchangeable Sumba ring that the wearer can customize to reflect her mood by simply selecting a different stone.
Interchangeable Ring from the Sumba Collection
Visit the Lorenz Bäumer boutique at 19 Place Vendôme, 75001 Paris or shop his collection on Moda Operandi.