Jewelry symbolizes strong feelings: love, friendship, remembrance of a loved one. But in a region of two cultures sometimes Hispanic, sometimes French, whose relationships were always changing, the traditional craft was preserved. These precious objects always have always played a part in the culture of presentation of the Catalan population, proud of its heritage, from one generation to the next. In the first half of the 19th century, with the … Continuer la lecture
Turning gold into wire In Perpignan gold is exclusively used for Garnet jewelry. Mined industrially near the village of Glorianes (Pyrénnées-Orientales) from the 1920s to the 1960s, Catalan gold has been used since time immemorial. Processed and worked into fine sheets or wire of different thicknesses, gold is first passed through a manual or an electric machine to refine the metal. In the nineteenth century Catalan jewellers were specialized in … Continuer la lecture
The legacy of the nobility In the Second Empire a new interest about the 18th century gave birth to the decoratives arts in the Pompadour style. Promoted by the Empress Eugénie, attracted by the personality of Marie Antoinette, this trend was to have a great influence on the jewelry culture. Roussillon contributed to the trends of the day in the form of a prestigious and imposing cross called the badine … Continuer la lecture
All the garnets of Perpignan are cut and worked for mounting in a typical style i.e. with a flat base and only work on one side. Best on ancient traditions, Catalan jewellery alone continues to practise this type mounting which has disappeared everywhere else in Europe, and the Catalan stones are finer. Today, stone-cutting workshops of Idar-Oberstein in German Palatinate have taken over from the workshops of Saint-Claude in the … Continuer la lecture
In order to enhance the lumisosity and brilliance of the Garnet, sheet of silver foil with a red tint (paillon) is delicately cut then placed inside the setting. It served to reflect the light and give brilliance to the stone. The “paillon” is usually the same colour of the stone except in the case of “brésils”, which means citrines placed on red “paillon”, giving them orange reflexion. This … Continuer la lecture
Rock formation Originally extracted in their natural state in the Pyrénnees, the garnet is today mostly mined in countries such as Mozambique, Kenya, Tanzania, Madagascar, Sri Lanka and India. In Europe the most famous is the Bohemian garnet in the Czech Republic. During the successive crystallization processes, involving changes in pressure and temperature, atoms and ions arrange themselves in a regular pattern. This crystalline structure takes a cubic form … Continuer la lecture
A complex gem Garnets are a group of complex neo silicates in a regular cubic form. The crystals are most often in a form of a hexaoctahedron and a rhombododecahedron. Their average hardness is 7.5 and their density of 4.32 which allows their use in jewellery. Their colour covers a broad palette with many shades of red. Since time immemorial, garnets have been used in jewellery; reds and purples … Continuer la lecture
Ce bijou a été offert à la Poésie catalane par Frédéric Mistral et Roumanille. Il porte sur le ruban l’inscrition suivante: Provence et Catalogne ont feuri, et donneront des graines. Le début du XXe siècle voit l’éclosion de nombreux bijoux régionalistes. Toute contribution est la bienvenue pour la localisation et l’histoire de ce bijou. Photographie parue dans Féminal, l’Illustracio Catalana, 1914.
L’Art Nouveau européen ou l’affirmation des provinces Les vingt dernières années du XIXe s. sont un tournant dans l’art de la bijouterie par l’apparition d’un style touchant tous les domaines des arts décoratifs et liant les pays européens. Toutefois l’Art nouveau possède dans chaque pays ou microrégion des caractéristiques bien précises. Ses débuts sont fortement liés aux idées régionalistes. Chaque capitale régionale où provinciale voulait jouer un rôle centralisateur et contribua … Continuer la lecture
Louis-Auguste Golay, fondateur de l’entreprise Golay, naquit le 26 novembre 1867 au Sentier, à la Vallée de Joux, une région de la Suisse alors isolée du reste du monde. Diplômé de la section commerciale de l’Ecole d’Ingénieurs de Winterthur, Louis-Auguste Golay apprit jusqu’à sept langues étrangères au cours de son existence. Héritant de son père horloger le goût du commerce et de la mobilité, il devint à 20 ans marchand … Continuer la lecture
L'Institut du Grenat est une association sous le patronage de l'Union européenne
(LEO04 Leonardo partnerships)
La région Occitanie aide l'Institut du Grenat dans le cadre de l'Inventaire patrimonial.
Convention-cadre de partenariat pour l'exposition "Art et histoire d'un bijou catalan" au palais des rois de Majorque.
Convention quadripartite pour la Saint Eloi 2023-2025.
Rejoindre l'Institut du Grenat, c'est rejoindre une association culturelle dynamique qui œuvre à la protection et au rayonnement du savoir-faire des bijoutiers traditionnels catalans en Grenat taille Perpignan.
