Jean Despres was an Art Deco jewelry designer whose name has come to stand for the most dynamic of 20th-century styles. This definitive celebration of his work will delight new admirers and seasoned connoisseurs alike.

Capturing the streamlined, modern aesthetic of the age of the machine and transforming it into objects of great beauty, Despres has always been the jeweler of choice for informed collectors and insiders: Josephine Baker was an early admirer, and Andy Warhol’s collection was sold at Sotheby’s, New York in 1988.

As a young man, Despres came to know avant-garde artists in Paris, including Leger, De Chirico and Braque. After the outbreak of war in 1914 he worked on the industrial design of aeroplanes, and he transferred this experience and inspiration into the jewelry business.

Despres used geometric motifs in his designs, and in the 1930s embarked on a notable collaboration with the glass painter Etienne Cournault. Despres went on to create a range of tableware and decorative objects in gold, silver and pewter, whose bold, industrial looks were uncompromisingly modern, yet always graceful and refined.

Many drawings and designs are reproduced here for the first time, showing Despres’s creative process and, benefiting from a wealth of fine archive material, the original photographs are accompanied by a large number of new photographs taken specially for the book.