JNA Jan/ Feb 2021

精闢視野 JNA Jan/Feb 2021 | 29 M ore than a year after opening a permanent campus in Hong Kong, L’ÉCOLE School of Jewelry Arts, supported by Van Cleef & Arpels, is gearing up for 2021. With new courses and activities in the offing, the institute is on track to making an even stronger impact on the jewellery sector during its second year. According to Elise Gonnet-Pon, managing director of L’ÉCOLE Asia Pacific, the enduring legacy of gems and jewellery making, and the market’s inherent thirst for knowledge will outlast challenging times. This was evident when L’ÉCOLE held two exhibitions – Precious Art Deco Objects from February 9 to November 11 and Discover the Gemstones, Ruby & Sapphire from June 10 to October 26 – at the height of pandemic-induced lockdowns and social distancing measures last year. Both events garnered positive response from audiences. As of this interview in late 2020, the school was closed for a total of 100 days in a period of 12 months due to Covid-19. Still, the two exhibitions attracted plenty of people. Gonnet-Pon said the number of visitors to its ruby and sapphire event almost doubled compared to the first exhibition. “This shows that there is genuine interest from the general public,” she commented. “We’re lucky to be located at K11 Musea because apart from the jewellery lovers and connoisseurs who come to see us, families and other mall visitors visit us to discover and learn about gems and jewellery.” L’ÉCOLE offers around 15 topics from different courses such as Art History of Jewelry, Savoir-Faire, The World of Gemstones as well as introductory options for adults. Younger audiences may avail themselves of five course topics aimed at honing their creativity. All courses are taught by various experts in the gemstone and jewellery fields. The institute also holds monthly evening conversations on certain topics where two experts engage in dialogue with the audience to bring about different perspectives. The exhibitions meanwhile are open to the public, with the aim of reaching out to more people and giving them access to the world of jewellery art, gemstones and jewellery making. L’ÉCOLE operates on the tenets of educating with passion using a non-formal, more conversational approach, revealed Gonnet-Pon. It especially caters to those who are fascinated by jewellery or gemmology and would like to test their level of interest before committing to a professional curriculum. “They would come to discover the topic with us because we are a school of introduction. We give certificates and not diplomas. We know it takes years to train in gemmology,” she continued. “Similar to a cooking class or a wine-tasting event, our audience does a bit of ‘gem-tasting’.” Innovations Faced with challenges posed by Covid-19 restrictions, L’ÉCOLE worked to enhance offline experiences through online tools and technology. In summer last year, it launched the L’ÉCOLE Kids Rock campaign where families were asked to join a learning and creative contest. Applicants – usually parents and their children – were given a learning kit about rubies and sapphires, which includes an activity booklet for the children and an exhibition catalogue for the parents. One aspect of the contest involved children creating a jewellery piece with rubies and sapphires, which yielded quite impressive proposals. From the Wax Project to the Setting Techniques course at L'ÉCOLE L'ÉCOLE 課程：'從蠟模雕製到鑲嵌技術' Elise Gonnet-Pon, managing director of L’ÉCOLE Asia Pacific L'ÉCOLE 珠寶藝術學院亞太區董事總經理 Elise Gonnet-Pon