Lacloche Freres was a Parisian fine-jewellery house active from 1892 through the late 1930s, with branches in Madrid, Biarritz, San Sebastian and London. The firm was one of the major maisons of the Belle Epoque and Art Deco periods, recognised at the time as a peer of Cartier, Boucheron and Van Cleef and Arpels, and now valued by collectors and auction houses for the precision of its work and the originality of its Art Deco design.

Origins

The firm was founded by four brothers of a French Sephardic family that had long established commercial ties in Spain. Jules Lacloche opened the original Madrid branch in 1875, drawing on the family's existing Spanish jewellery trade. The Paris house at 15 rue de la Paix opened in 1892, with the brothers Jules, Leopold, Fernand and Jacques operating the firm collectively. The location was the heart of the period's high-jewellery district, opposite Cartier and around the corner from the Place Vendome that would become the centre of Paris luxury.

Branches followed the family's existing Spanish footprint and the seasonal patterns of the European leisure class. Madrid served the Spanish court and aristocracy. Biarritz and San Sebastian served the summer-resort clientele on the Atlantic coast. London opened in 1922, principally to serve the English clientele that had developed during the Edwardian period.

Belle Epoque period

Through the first two decades of the twentieth century Lacloche worked principally in the Belle Epoque vocabulary common to the leading Paris houses: lace-work platinum, garland-style compositions, diamond and pearl pieces with precise diamond setting and fine millegrain finish. The firm's Belle Epoque work was technically excellent but stylistically not strongly differentiated from that of Cartier, Boucheron or Chaumet of the same period; auction-house attribution of unsigned pieces from this period is a matter of construction technique and signature rather than of strong design markers.

Art Deco period

Lacloche found its most distinctive voice in the Art Deco period, particularly from 1920 to 1932. The firm produced jewellery in the geometric vocabulary of the period but with several distinctive characteristics. First, the use of strongly contrasting coloured stone combinations, particularly emerald-and-onyx, sapphire-and-coral, and ruby-and-jade, in compositions where the colour contrast was the principal design statement. Second, an interest in Eastern and Persian motifs that the firm developed alongside Cartier's parallel Tutti Frutti work but with its own distinctive vocabulary. Third, technical excellence in mystery clocks, vanity cases and enamelled accessories, which the firm produced in significant numbers through the period and which remain among the most desirable Lacloche pieces.

The 1925 Exposition Internationale des Arts Decoratifs et Industriels Modernes in Paris, the show that gave Art Deco its name, included Lacloche pieces and confirmed the firm's place in the period's leading designers. The Exposition's grand prize pieces, including major brooches and necklaces with carved emerald and ruby in geometric platinum settings, are now in museum and private collections.

The breakup

Tensions among the four brothers led to the partnership's dissolution in the late 1920s. Jacques Lacloche, the youngest and the principal creative force in the Art Deco period, left the firm in 1931 to establish his own house, Jacques Lacloche, at 7 Place Vendome. The original firm continued under the remaining brothers but lost much of its design momentum. The Depression weakened all the major Paris houses; Lacloche Freres's smaller scale and less institutionally established footprint left it more exposed than Cartier or Van Cleef. The firm closed in the late 1930s, with its Paris stock, archive and goodwill dispersed.

Jacques Lacloche's successor firm continued through the post-war period under the same name, producing jewellery in the changing post-war styles. The successor firm passed through several ownership changes and is occasionally still active in revival or licensing arrangements; the relationship to the original Lacloche Freres of 1892 to circa 1937 is one of name continuity rather than direct corporate descent.

Identification and signature

Lacloche Freres pieces typically carry a signature stamped on the construction. The signature varies by period: early pieces are signed Lacloche Freres in full; later Art Deco pieces may be signed simply Lacloche or Lacloche Paris. London-made pieces of the 1920s carry English assay marks. The firm's distinctive construction details, including the form of the platinum work and the characteristic stone-setting style, are also markers of attribution. Auction-house specialists at Sotheby's, Christie's and Bonhams maintain reference collections of Lacloche signatures and construction details.

Notable pieces and collectors

Significant Lacloche pieces have been sold through the major auction houses over the past several decades. The 2014 Sotheby's Magnificent Jewels sale at Geneva included a major Lacloche Art Deco emerald-and-diamond bracelet that achieved a substantial result. Christie's, Bonhams and Phillips have all handled important Lacloche pieces. The firm's vanity cases and minaudières, often with signed enamel and diamond decoration, are particularly sought after.

Lacloche pieces are held in the collections of the Musee des Arts Decoratifs in Paris, the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, the Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum in New York and the Historisches Museum in Pforzheim. Major private collectors of Belle Epoque and Art Deco jewellery include Lacloche pieces in their holdings.

Reattribution and the secondary literature

The scholarship on non-Cartier and non-Van Cleef Art Deco jewellery has expanded over the past several decades, with Lacloche specifically benefiting from focused attention by auction-house specialists, museum curators and independent scholars. Misattribution of Lacloche pieces to Cartier or other better-known firms remains an issue with unsigned work; reverse misattribution of unsigned work to Lacloche to capture market premium is also a concern. The trade's working approach is to require signature, hallmark or documented provenance for full Lacloche attribution and to reserve judgement on stylistically Lacloche-like unsigned pieces.

Significance

Lacloche Freres represents one of the second-tier Paris jewellery houses of the early twentieth century, ranking below Cartier and Van Cleef in scale and continuity but above the smaller workshops in technical and design distinction. The firm's Belle Epoque and Art Deco work is collected in its own right and is increasingly recognised in the museum and auction literature as a significant body of work. For collectors, Lacloche offers the prospect of major signed Art Deco jewellery at prices below those of Cartier or Van Cleef equivalents while sharing much of the same period workmanship and design quality.