LVMH: Chaumet opens its first standalone store in Canada

French high jewellery house Chaumet, owned by the LVMH group, has opened a store in Vancouver, creating a new bridge between its historic ties with Canada and its Parisian address.

Chaumet already had a presence in Canada through five points-of-sale operated by its partner, the Canadian luxury jewellery chain Birks, in Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal and Calgary.

This is its first standalone store. It is located at 650 West 41st Avenue (and Cambie Street) in Oakridge Park, a high-end commercial and residential complex in Vancouver.

To mark the opening, the house of Chaumet highlights that its ties with Canada date back to the 19th century. Its early clients included Queen Victoria and her successor, King Edward VII.

It is also exhibiting its archives: naturalistic creations inspired by the maple leaf; the maple leaf tartan, a plaid pattern that has become a Canadian symbol; and labradorite, a stone discovered in Canada.

Store evokes 12 Vendôme, Chaumet's historic Parisian address

The facade features the house's signature blue. The interior includes a fresco depicting golden ears of wheat and a chandelier made of a constellation of flowers. The decor references Chaumet's identity as a “naturalist jeweller”.

The offering includes collections inspired by the historic links between Chaumet, Napoleon I and Empress Joséphine, the house's first major clients. The Joséphine collection reinterprets the historic tiaras created in homage to the empress, while Bee de Chaumet is inspired by the bee, a Napoleonic emblem, and the geometry of the beehive's honeycomb.

It includes a selection of high jewellery and the Liens collection, one of Chaumet's signatures. Launched in the 1970s, it is built around the crossed link motif and symbolises the relationships that unite people: love, friendship, family or heritage.