Jean-Pierre Cottet-Dubreuil

Richard Orfévre

Silversmith

©Jonathan Paciull

©Jean-Baptiste Chauvin

©Julien Cresp

©Tadzio

©Jean-Baptiste Chauvin

Savoir-faire served on the table

Jean-Pierre manages a historic maison founded in 1910
He regularly collaborates with designers and artists
As a child he collected catalogues of great silversmiths

There are children who collect comics, those who collect stickers to exchange with friends and then there is Jean-Pierre Cottet-Dubreuil, who as a child loved to keep the catalogues of the great silverware maisons. “When, many years later, I knocked on the door of a famous silversmith from Paris to look for work, they were shocked by my knowledge of their archive and hired me immediately,” he laughs today in his large atelier in the upper Marais. “I always wanted to do this job, the problem was that the silverware course at school had been cancelled. So, I started studying to become a jeweller, but fortunately among the professors there was a goldsmith who helped me to train in parallel with the regular course of study. In 2002, I took my diploma as a goldsmith and silversmith. I was the only one in all of France “.

Interview

©Julien Cresp

Where does this passion for silver come from?: Proustian from a childhood memory, that of a large drawer full of silver cutlery that was opened only on festive occasions, at Christmas, Easter and for some important birthdays. I remember that as a child, opening that drawer meant the arrival of a special day.
What prompted you to follow this craft?: I had an Aunt in Paris and every time I went to visit her from the countryside, she took me around museums. One day we went to Versailles where an exhibition on the art of the table was in progress in the courts of Europe: I remember that I was shocked seeing the richness of those silvers. It was there that I decided that this would be my path.
How did you come to take over Richard Orfèvre?: I found myself in the right place at the right time. During one evening, I got to know Francis Regala, who at the time ran the maison. He told me that the last apprentice was gone, I asked him to take his place and so I began my career. In 2012 Regala retired and proposed for me to buy the maison.
What does the future hold?: For the 100th anniversary of the maison in 2010, I started collaborating with designers to create cutlery sets with a more contemporary cut. I certainly want to continue on this path of dialogue and exchange, even trying to combine different professions.

Jean-Pierre Cottet-Dubreuil is a master artisan: he began his career in 2002 and he started teaching in 2014