Parisian born Frédéric Zaavy was third generation of a family of diamond merchants. He embarked on courses at several art schools, including the École des Arts Appliqués and the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris.
After travelling the world and becoming a gemstone dealer, in 1994 he decided to turn his attention towards high-class jewellery design rather than join the family business.
Frédéric Zaavy became the exclusive workmaster for Fabergé on 22nd April 2008, the first appointed since the Russian Revolution. In pursuit of excellence and innovation, Fabergé proudly collaborated with Frédéric Zaavy to present a truly remarkable High Jewellery collection, which embodied the spirit and ethos of its founder, Peter Carl Fabergé. 100 pieces were relaunched together with the brand in 2009, ranging from USD 40,000 to USD 7 million.
Frédéric Zaavy was an extraordinary Parisian jeweller who took the jeweller’s art to a new plateau. Dedicated to perfection, he worked with both precious and semi-precious gemstones, to marry exquisite combinations of colour with superb craftsmanship.
Perhaps the most astonishing piece of the collection, and best representation of his iconic style, is the Nymphéa Bracelet – paying homage both to Monet’s waterlilies and to Fabergé’s art in jewels. Finely articulated, in platinum, yellow and white gold and silver, the diamonds range from white, blue and yellow through to violet and black; the coloured gems include rubies, aquamarines, alexandrites, amethysts, fire opals, moonstones, paraiba tourmalines, tsavorites, spinels and blue, pink, violet and padparadscha sapphires.
Frédéric Zaavy sadly passed away on 15th September 2011 in Paris.
“All these millions of stones I am using are like musicians in front of me that I am conducting…now I am about to bring the symphony together.”
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