Marie-Christine Pavone
When I first met Marie-Christine she was working out of an apartment just inside the peripherique in northern Paris. I have been buying Marie Christines work for many years now and still love her designs and the fact that she is still designing new ones.
Pavone jewellery is very good value for money in my opinion, more so than some of the other brooch artists as her items are hand made by Marie-Christine herself from original 1920s – 1930s galalith, bakelite and lucite, but mostly Galalith.
She has a large stock of original galalith bought when it was unwanted but now of course highly valued.
Galalith was made from casein (in milk), which is where its name derives from – Gala (milk) and Lithos (stone). It is a member of the early plastic and phenolics family and it was invented in the late 19th century. Working with galaith is similar to working with wood, it requires cutting and sanding but also requires different phases of polishing to give it a shiny and finished appearance. Galalith is of great interest as it is an infinite palette of bright or soft, light or dark shades and even colour changes in one solid piece.
Part of Marie-Christine’s stock of vintage galalith
Quality assurance of a selection of earrings by Marie-Christine’s cat.
The creation of Pavone jewellery began over twenty years ago, with trends and styles blending old and new. The jewellery described as vintage on my website is an illustration of this and is similar to “vintage” jewellery from the 1980s and 1990s.
Each piece of jewellery is made entirely by hand and requires several weeks of work to complete. Marie-Christine has created, designed, cut, polished, hand painted and signed each piece herself. Each item of her jewellery is signed and she has given each design a name, which makes it a unique and rare piece of jewellery that can add a very personal and original touch to your outfit. Some Pavone brooches tend to be large and very impressive when worn.
Marie-Christine is still producing her brooches and designing new items but she only sells to selected trade dealers, and in bulk orders, and does not sell to the public.
As one of her selected dealers I can order your requirements directly through her, so if there’s a certain piece you are after, let me know and I’ll attempt to source it – subject to availability.
It is generally not possible to order specific colours.
An image showing templates used by Marie-Christine to create her brooches.
A selection of original vintage galalith pieces in the authors private collection, showing two long versions of a scotty dog, a heart shape and a pair of marbled semi circles.
Our next blog: Leon Hatot – Ato’s battery clocks
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