Interview with Ms. Elise Gonnet-Pon, Managing Director of South East Asia & Australia at Van Cleef & Arpels and ESSEC alumna

Image courtesy of Van Cleef & Arpels

The exhibition, “Van Cleef & Arpels: The Art & Science of Gems” was successfully held at the ArtScience Museum in Singapore from 23 April to 14 August. We took the opportunity to speak with Managing Director of South East Asia & Australia at Van Cleef & Arpels and ESSEC alumna Ms. Elise Gonnet-Pon for an insight into the exhibition and how her time at ESSEC influenced her career path in the Luxury Industry.

Could you tell us more about the exhibition, The Art & Science of Gems? Why has Van Cleef & Arpels decided to hold this patrimonial exhibition in Singapore this year?

The “Van Cleef & Arpels: The Art and Science of Gems” exhibition continues in the tradition of Van Cleef & Arpels (“the Maison” from hereon) to share its creations with the public. We wished to host a patrimonial exhibition in Southeast Asia, and in Singapore in particular as the city can be considered the hub of Southeast Asia, and this region is at the crossroads of cultures which have inspired the Maison in the past, as reflected in the pieces on display at the Gallery of Influences in the exhibition.

In Singapore, the ArtScience Museum became an evident choice due to the unique approach they have in any exhibitions which they host. The Museum covers a wide array of topics with a unique overarching angle of the intersection between Art and Science. Extending this concept, jewelry is the “Art”, and Science comes into play with the integration of gemology into the exhibition.

Through L’Ecole Van Cleef & Arpels, we had the pleasure of being introduced to the world-renowned French National Museum of Natural History. The co-curation with the ArtScience Museum and contributions of the French National Museum of Natural History has given us the unprecedented opportunity to exhibit jewelry pieces, timepieces and precious objects alongside gemstones and crystals. We exhibited more than a century of craftsmanship and beyond that, our short life of a century old jeweller, was, for the first time, juxtaposed with the 4.5 billion year history of Planet Earth.

Image courtesy of Van Cleef & Arpels

What are the core values of Van Cleef, and how are these values woven into the overall concept of the exhibition?

Van Cleef & Arpels holds dearly the values of sharing and transmitting. We recognize the value of transmission, and in order not to keep this world of jewelry-making too secretive, L’Ecole was created and we embarked on a journey to share the know-how and craftsmanship through patrimonial exhibitions.

There is also the value of excellence and making no compromises, in order to remain as the reference for high jewelry, and for the pieces signed by the Maison to encapsulate that timeless value passed on from generation to generation. For example, in this video directed by Loïc Prigent, which was also screened at the exhibition, we can see the craftsmen and women at work.

There is a need to constantly innovate, while preserving the traditional techniques of the Maison. To complement traditional techniques such as the Mystery Setting, we also use some modern techniques in our workshops. This allows us to create components which are much thinner than before. We still continue using and perpetrating craftsmanship and savoir-faire, while also using modern techniques.

However, very importantly, as far as the drawings are concerned, we make it a point to still have a handmade gouache for all our creations, which is quite unique. It is actually quite difficult to find designers who can draw with a pencil or a brush, as most of them from the design schools tend to be more well-versed in computer design. It does not mean that we consider a computer design uninteresting; it is definitely interesting and can be very helpful in terms of research. We make sure that we train our designers to know how to preserve, and we think of this as one of our missions; for example, we support the Royal Drawing School founded by the Prince of Wales, as His Majesty is also very keen to preserve this know-how.

Could you tell us more about L’École Van Cleef & Arpels? Why did Van Cleef & Arpels decide to create L’École Van Cleef & Arpels?

L’École Van Cleef & Arpels was created in 2012, grounded on the values of sharing and transmitting of the Maison, with the aim of perpetrating the craftsmanship beyond the internal training from the Masters to the Apprentices in our workshops. We realized that the world of jewelry was highly secretive, and the idea of L’Ecole was to share and open the doors of this secret universe to the public, welcoming them to know more about craftsmanship in jewelry and watch-making.

L’Ecole Van Cleef & Arpels is based at Place Vendome. At L’Ecole, students can attend hands-on classes on craftsmanship led by our passionate experts and craftsmen on shaping wax, setting a stone, or painting a gouache drawing in a creation studio. You can also learn about Gemology and the History of Art. L’Ecole is also involved in partnerships, including the partnership with the French National Museum of Natural History. Thanks to this unique project of L’Ecole, the Museum came into the discussion, and subsequently into the whole conception and creation of this exhibition. The French National Museum of Natural History was created by King Louis XIII in the 17th Century, and is one of the oldest museums in the world.

As one of the distinguished partners for the Savoir-Faire d’Exception Chair at ESSEC, could you tell us more about what this partnership means to Van Cleef & Arpels?

This partnership means a lot to Van Cleef & Arpels. As a traditional craftsmanship house where the Mains d’Or are the key, and the expertise of the gemstone experts are at the beginning and completion of each and every piece, it is important for us to understand that even in the highly digitalized world of today where everything is instantaneous, the exceptional craftsmanship (Savoir-Faire d’Exception) is preserved. We thus consider that it is our role as a French Maison to support the training of the young craftsmen and women, and to develop that understanding through the Chair.For the younger generation, who were born with the Internet and are used to sharing any piece of information in less than a second, when you realize that a piece made from Mystery Setting which could take more than 1200 hours to be crafted, it is probably more crucial than ever before to be able to work with that duality of pace.

As a partner, ESSEC has always been very much ahead in the understanding of the subtleties of what luxury is about, and how the paradigm of luxury is evolving year after year and decade after decade.

Image courtesy of Van Cleef & Arpels

What are some of the key opportunities and challenges for doing business in Southeast Asia?

In Southeast Asia, it is wonderful that we still have the opportunity to unveil the Maison to many visitors in our boutiques and also, thanks to the patrimonial exhibition, people who are not familiar with the name of Van Cleef & Arpels and our creations. In terms of challenges, the question marks of the global economy, are a challenge for any international company, bringing more uncertainty and a need to adjust to a more volatile environment. I believe the opportunity lies in having the customers of today becoming increasingly well-versed and more appreciative of the authenticity of pieces. With the ubiquity of social media and ease of access to information, I would say that being genuine and authentic has certainly become more important, even though this is a challenge. For example, sometimes our genuine products, like the Alhambra collection, are not yet released, but there will already be counterfeits available on the market. I would thus say that Intellectual Property, with different rules and legal frameworks across countries, is a key challenge.

Working in this industry requires a specific set of skills and a different mindset. How did your experience at ESSEC help you in terms of building your career in this industry, and how did you come to join the Richemont group upon graduation from ESSEC?

ESSEC has been quite a pioneer in opening up to the world, and I had the opportunity to learn Japanese from the very first year, and to pursue an internship in Japan at the end of my first year, which was a marvellous experience. At that time, I already had a personal objective to work in the field of luxury because of the creative dimension which was something that I related very much to at a personal level. It was a fantastic opportunity in terms of learning, which was invaluable in helping me understand how details and the interaction between tradition and modernity in this country can be fascinating.

I was also an apprentice at 3M, and this was a very good learning opportunity for me to alternate between classes at ESSEC and working part time. It was a great way to be able to implement the theories I was studying at school, and to have real life business cases to experience and apply these to. This is definitely one of the strengths of the experience at ESSEC which helped me considerably. Lastly, I had the opportunity to go for an exchange program in Chulalongkorn University doing an MBA in Bangkok. I was also an alumna of the ESSEC LVMH Chair, where we had lessons on topics such as semiotics, and gained many insights about the specificities of the Luxury industry. The opportunity of joining the Richemont Group started through my internship, my last one in my curriculum in the Timepieces Department, and this is how I came to join Van Cleef & Arpels and was entranced by the passion of this Maison, and here I am now.

What advice would you give to students looking to embark on a career in this industry?

I would say to be extremely curious, be willing to try and have as many experiences as possible, and to also gain some sales floor experience. This is very important as what you see in this exhibition is that the pieces are always meant to be relevant to the clients as they are relevant to their time. In order to be relevant, even if you aim to work in the product development side of luxury, retail is the beginning and the end of everything. This is really about understanding how exciting and sometimes challenging it can be to be a salesperson, and how you lead as a manager to take into account the reality of the sales floor.

I would also say that it is important to be open to the world and be curious. The entrepreneurial spirit and the spirit of excellence are core values upheld at ESSEC. For the Maison, we do not aim to do anything other than watches and jewellery, and we will not expand our business to unfamiliar areas, as this is not what we know how to do, and we hope for our craftsmanship to remain in-house.

I would also say that the world of luxury is fascinating, but very demanding. It can seem frivolous at times, but it is probably one aspect or interpretation of it; beneath the surface lies real meaning as you have the craftsmen, Mains d’Or, and rich French traditions. This is extremely demanding and sometimes requires more patience.

For students who are interested in embarking in a career in luxury, they need to be prepared that it is a very demanding industry to be in as excellence is at the core of everything, of what you constantly need to achieve.

To learn more, please click here to view the interview supplement.

Image courtesy of Van Cleef & Arpels