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To mark the Maison’s 60th anniversary, jeweler dinh van is paying tribute to its founder. The creator’s work will be celebrated through an exhibition, a book and a film, while the creation of two iconic pieces will be launch to showcase the avant-garde and anti-traditionalist vision of Jean Dinh Van
The Jeweler: Jean Dinh van Jean Dinh Van : sculpteur-joaillier
Born in 1927 to a Breton mother and a Vietnamese father, Jean Dinh Van studied drawing at the Arts Décoratifs, then the art of metalwork at the Paris jewelry school.
From this apprenticeship in fire, sculpture came naturally to him.
In 1950, he joined ©Cartier, where he stayed for eight years, first as an apprentice, then as a jeweler.
Guided by instinct
Jean Dinh Van, artisan jeweler, shapes, models and reworks the material until he finds the perfect proportions: he has an eye, a genius for shapes.
Jean Dinh Van would enter into the material, sculpting the metal by following his instincts. He liked to play with the balance of shapes and volumes, always seeking the essential. He took pleasure in combining materials that had never been combined before, such as gold and steel.
"I had touched metal, and a passion was born: I loved gold!” — Jean Dinh Van.
He perfected his craft from an early age. After graduating from the École des Arts Décoratifs, he joined Cartier - like his father before him - where he worked alongside Jeanne Toussaint.
For ten years, he developed his creative talent, creating exceptional pieces and unique jewelry for a wealthy, socialite clientele.
After honing his talent at ©Cartier for 10 years, Jean Dinh Van set out on his own. He initially flexed this new independence on Rue Saint-Anne, where the artisan started a collaboration with Jean Schlumberger. Then, in 1965, he founded a company that shared his name and opened a studio on Place Gaillon in Paris, which allowed him to bring his unique vision of jewelry to life. While the jewelry tradition imposes round rings, Jean Dinh Van imagines them square. Where the clasps are usually hidden, Jean dinh van makes it the central motif of her jewels: Menottes dinh van and Serrure collections are the best illustrations.“The jewel must not be ostentatious. It must reflect the personality of the woman who wears it, because she wants to wear it all the time, not just take it out of her trunk for a special occasion.”— Jean Dinh Van. In 1967, he meets Marie-Françoise Bleustein-Blanchet, daughter of the founder of Publicis, who will convince him to break free from traditional jewelry stores and to sell his jewelry at Drugstore Publicis, the brand’s first point of sale.
To understand the vision of Jean Dinh Van is also to go back to the sixties and their cultural effervescence, which has changed many disciplines and sectors. Inspired by these transformations, Jean Dinh Van wants to take the jewel out of the coffers and democratize it, proposing a new approach to jewelry. It anticipates the new aspirations of the modern woman, breaking with the ancestral codes of jewelry and high jewelry. Objects that appear simple and purely functional — a key, lock, razor blade or pin — are thus elevated to the rank of precious motifs, and find, through the metal, a form of nobility. Through his creations, he writes his own definition of luxury, discreet, not ostentatious, giving life to reduced jewelry to the essentials, to wear every day.
Jean Dinh Van made a name for himself at the 1967 World's Fair in Montreal, where he was selected as one of the four best French jewelers to exhibit. Spotted by ©Cartier New York teams, his creations were quickly distributed on 5th Avenue and in Palm Beach - a major turning point.
For ten years, starting in 1967, he supervised the manufacture of his jewelry in the workshops of ©Cartier New York. The pieces, then co-signed by ©Cartier and dinh van, were distributed throughout North America.
The American adventure continued: some of his works became part of the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston.
In 1977, building on this success, Jean Dinh Van opened her own boutique on Madison Avenue in New York.
Actor of the Parisian social scene, Jean Dinh Van crosses a multitude of personalities, among which Pierre Cardin and Paco Rabanne, with whom he collaborated to create iconic designs.
Surrounded by these talents, he composes and creates a new aesthetic language, where each piece of jewelry becomes the expression of a style free from traditional codes.
His talented social circle also included the sculptor César. Jean Dinh Van invited him to exhibit his work in his store on Rue de la Paix, with the breast-shaped pendant which was molded on the breast of dancer Trucula Bonbon from the Crazy Horse.
Combining evocative form and symbolic depth, this jeweler sculptureachieves a double synthesis. Semantics first of all, since it symbolizes attachment through a motif appreciated by the creator on a daily basis.
"The Menottes dinh van jewel has its origin in a lock key" recalled the jeweler. "From the piece of metal, I had in my hand to open and close, I declined this Menotte."
Artisanal then since it requires both the flexibility that facilitates the opening of the part, and the rigidity that prevents any deformation.
To shine the spotlight on the singularity of a Maison that has now spent 60 years forging its identity in the unique vision of an iconoclastic jeweler, starting in September 2025, the history of dinh van creations will be developed into a unique exhibition and book.
And to celebrate 60 years of freedom, iconic pieces will pay tribute to powerful symbols: the Pavé, the Serrure bracelet, and the Double Ring.
An emblem of a student protest which started in the Sorbonne in 1968, the Pavé became Jean Dinh Van’s symbol of jewelry making which also hammers home his manifesto for independence and freedom.
To mark the Maison’s 60th anniversary, Le Pavé is continuing on its quest. From September 2025, this symbol of freedom will be relaunched in a complete collection highlighting 18-carat yellow gold and silver. A sculptural ring or an illuminating geometric pendant, the icon which left a big mark on multiple generations proves the versatility of its contemporary design, ready to meet the men and women of today.
On top of these relaunches, there are two new versions of the large Pavé Necklace in yellow gold, now available in small and medium versions. Several versions of bracelets also complete this collection, like a series of precious amulets that can be worn in everyday life.
This iconic piece of jewelry, completely stripped of mechanisms, was created 50 years ago, in 1975.
This technical prowess takes the shape of a taut golden ribbon, flattened at the end by a gentle hammer strike. A clasp with a lock design forms an ingenious fastening system, so that the piece can be put on and taken off faultlessly day after day.
An icon of the Maison dinh van, the bracelet is being celebrated this year with a special edition: from October 2025, the Serrure collection will reveal a new version of the Serrure ribbon bracelet in yellow gold with a clasp featuring a signature square topped with a princess-cut diamond
dinh van x rabanne
Another iconic piece from the Maison’s history has been reinterpreted: the Double Ring for Paco Rabanne.
Created by Jean Dinh Van in 1967 for the designer's fashion show, the press at the time referred to it as “the ring of unbreakable love.”
Crafted in yellow gold with a sparkling square openwork design, this creation consists of two rings inspired by belt buckles and connected by the Maison’s iconic chain. It is also available in silver, as it was originally.
This same ring will be on display at the Louvre in 2025 in its exhibition "Louvre Couture", objets d'art, objets de mode (Louvre Couture, objects of art, objects of fashion).
