A Norman by adoption, my trade for many a year has been to invent jewels. A lover of the sea, with a passion for seashells, I created ornaments for the world of surfing for almost 20 years, using exotic shells or other elements related to the sea, which I often went to look for in faraway isles. Picking up shells on the shores of Normandy opened my eyes to little shells that I consider to be real tiny treasures just waiting to become jewels that pay homage to their purity.

                                                                   Philippe Deschamps

I was born in the Cotentin area and spent my childhood on the beaches of Normandy, abandoning them at the age of 18 to continue studying the history of art at the Louvre Academy and the Sorbonne University, specialising in French decorative art of the 18th century. In charge of a gallery of 18th furniture and works of art in Paris, I remain closely and deeply attached to my home region, from which, in my opinion, I am too often too far apart. My love for objects, souvenirs and stories and my slightly forced separation from the shores I love so much have all contributed to my search to find a permanent tie with them. I have found this tie in the form of these little jewels.

                                                                   Armelle Deschamps