Est. MCMXXIV · Antwerp
A house of glass, light, and considered craft.
The origin
In 1924, a single workshop above an Antwerp canal.
Étienne Verre, son of a glassblower and grandson of a diamond polisher, opened a small atelier on the upper floor of a warehouse on the Schelde. He believed that the two crafts — light through glass, light through stone — were a single discipline. He was, perhaps, correct.
A century later, the maison is held by his great-granddaughter, Adèle, and operates from the same building — extended now across three floors and into a courtyard garden where the master cutters work under north light.
Centennial
One hundred years, told in seven moments.
- 1924
Atelier opened above the Schelde canal, Antwerp.
Étienne Verre, age 26, signs the lease on the upper floor of a glass warehouse.
- 1937
First commission for a European royal house.
A parure of fifteen stones, set in hand-engraved platinum. Still worn today.
- 1962
Move into haute joaillerie, after two decades in glass.
The maison begins cutting its own stones; the master engraver Maria Kovács joins.
- 1989
Antwerp workshop is restored after a fire.
Three months, four craftspeople, every drawer re-installed to its original position.
- 2003
Adèle Verre-Verbeke takes the maison forward.
The fourth generation opens the first private client salon, in Paris.
- 2017
The maison's centennial commission, Le Cent Solitaires.
Twenty-four numbered pieces, each set with a single stone, cut from one rough.
- 2024
One hundred years. The atelier remains on the same canal.
Mumbai and Tokyo salons open. The Antwerp workshop is unchanged.
Manifesto
We make few things, slowly, for people who will keep them.
We do not follow seasons. We do not produce in series. Each piece is conceived for a person, or for a moment we anticipate one will arrive. Our atelier works on twelve to twenty commissions at a time; the rest of our work is the stewardship of pieces already in the world.
A century is a long time. We plan for the next one.