Dinh Van, free jewelry sculptor.
Seventy years have passed since Jean Dinh Van Opened his first atelier in Paris in 1965.
© FLAMMARION
To mark this anniversary, a beautiful book published by Les Éditions Flammarion recounts the journey of a jeweler who succeeded in infusing a new breath of life into the art of jewelry. Authored by the jewelry historian Bérénice Geoffroy-Schneiter, the book brings together 192 pages that combine rare archives, documents still unpublished, and contemporary photographs by Emily Jeanne.
Through this visual and narrative narrative, the portrait of a creator emerges, one who transformed the relationship to jewelry, imagining it to be both essential, functional, and deeply rooted in its time. His pieces, such as the handcuffs dinh van, The Pavé or Serrure embody a stripped-down formal language, free from the traditional conventions of high jewelry.
The book recounts crucial milestones: collaborations with Pierre Cardin, André Courrèges and Paco Rabanne, the New York adventure with Cartier, but also the epic of the Drugstore Publicis where his creations were exhibited in a resolutely modern setting. These are milestones that testify to an independent vision and a constant desire for dialogue between fashion, design and society.
The layout, deliberately rhythmic and graphic, echoes the boldness of Jean’s drawing. Dinh Van. The texts explore how her jewelry accompanied the cultural and social upheavals of the 1960s-1970s, from women’s emancipation to the aesthetic transformations of a generation seeking freedom.
This beautiful book not only archives a story; it illuminates the scope of an approach that remains current. By placing simplicity and use at the heart of his art, Jean Dinh Van It paved the way for contemporary jewelry where the object is no longer limited to ornamentation but becomes a sign of style, attitude and freedom.
Visual emphasis: Two Pearl Ring, in gold and pearls, in collaboration with designer Pierre Cardin,
September 1967. Archive Dinh Van © FLAMMARION
