Rubel Freres

The Hungarian born brothers, Jean (John) and Robert Rubel, first began selling jewellery in their native Budapest. In 1914 they relocated to Paris, opening a workshop at 22 Rue Vivienne, a stone’s throw from the French capital’s prestigious haute jewellery centre: the Place Vendome.

The Rubel brothers soon established a reputation for producing high quality and beautifully executed pieces. They began manufacturing designs for well established brands. Van Cleef and Arpels (VCA) soon became an important client with whom the Rubel’s brothers would share a long and prolific partnership.

In 1925, the brothers were responsible for the award winning pieces displayed by Van Cleef and Arpels in the Exposition International Des Arts Decoratifs et Industriels Modernes. This was an important commission for Rubel Freres as it linked their manufacturing skills with the success of the VCA brand. Ostertag was another top client for Rubel Freres at this time.

Throughout the 1920-30s Rubel Freres created a series of Art Deco masterpieces. Paris at this time was gripped by a mania for Ancient Egyptian revival and East Asian decorative motifs. Rubel Freres embraced the trend and translated its themes into several magnificent strap bracelets. The broad strap bracelet was a popular form and successfully used by the brothers as the perfect canvas for depicting hieroglyphic figures or elaborate geometric designs in colourful gems and glittering diamonds. A beautiful example is the so called ‘Wave’ bracelet (c.1925) inspired by Japanese woodblock prints and calligraphy. By the late 1920s they had expanded to a larger premises at 15 Avenue de l’Opera.

In 1939, the brothers accepted VCA’s offer of relocating their workshop to New York City to manufacture pieces for the brand’s new US boutique. This move was, no doubt, fuelled by their awareness of the growing threat of war and the Nazi party’s antisemitism. This decision proved well founded. Their nephew, Marcel, inherited their Paris workshop on their departure but was soon forced to close its doors under the German Occupation.

Their first four years in America were productive. Despite, or perhaps because of, the war raging in Europe, US jewellery trends featured bold colours, bright yellow gold and whimsical motifs. In these early years working for VCA in New York, John Rubel created his most iconic design; the Ballerina or Dancer brooches. The design was inspired by the silhouette of a flamenco dancer John Rubel hastily sketched on the club tablecloth during her performance. The rough sketch was expertly translated by Maurice Duvalet into a design the workshop jewellers could set in precious metals and colourful gemstones. The design proved an immediate hit. The elegant posture of the dancing figure remains a timeless classic.  Their billowing skirts seem poised to swirl in time with an imagined melody.  The design is ideally suited to a brooch form. Its genius lay not only in its lifelike sense of movement, but in its ability to be continuously reproduced with a different colour scheme of gems encrusted to the dancers skirts.

In spite of their successful partnership, by 1943 the brothers split from Van Cleef and Arpels to manufacture and retail under the new name ‘John Rubel & Co.’. It was rumoured that this separation was rooted in a dispute over the rights to the Ballerina design.

Independent business continued to go well for the Rubel brothers. They opened a shop at 777 5th Avenue and continued to work with Duvalet for many of their designs. Clients included New York Socialites and Hollywood starlets, such as Ingrid Bergman. They also continued to manufacture for brands including Tiffany & Co. and Black, Starr and Frost. By 1946 ‘John Rubel & Co.’ expanded, opening a second store in the fashionable ocean side resort, Palm Beach.

In 1950, after over 10 years in America and over 30 years of business, John and Robert closed the business and returned to France to retire. Their legacy continues to live on today with their pieces remaining instantly recognisable for their exquisite craftsmanship and deft arrangements of coloured gems.

Style/Major Collections

Rubel Freres worked with some of the greatest jewellery Maisons of the 21st century to produce high quality jewels that captured the spirit of their age: from the crisp geometry of the Art Deco period to the bold colours and playful motifs that characterised Mid Century pieces.

The brothers are perhaps best known for the aforementioned Ballerina brooches made while in partnership with Van Cleef and Arpels. This partnership began in the early 1920s and continued for the next three decades. One of the brother’s earliest successes was at the legendary 1925 Exposition International Des Arts Decoratifs et Industriels Modernes. Here Rubel Freres were publicly applauded for their early masterpiece; known as the “Roses” bracelet. The broad floral bracelet, set with a monumental 463 round brilliant cut diamonds, 293 rubies and 108 emeralds in platinum, was an unrivalled work of art. Rubel Freres made the bracelet for Van Cleef and Arpels, who won the Grand Prix for their impressive display which also featured a watch commissioned by the Maharaja of Indore and made by Rubel Freres.

In 1926 Van Cleef and Arpels again turned to the Rubel’s brothers to create an important commission for the glamourous heiress and avid jewellery fanatic, Daisy Fellowes. The result was a lavish ‘Manchette’ cuff bracelet. The large diamond encrusted cuff was set with a fridge of large tear drop emerald beads in homage to ceremonial armbands worn by Indian maharajas. Daisy Fellowes was so delighted with the cuff that she commissioned a second to match two years later. The second cuff could be added to the original to make a necklace. These pieces are a testament to the skill and delicate sense of proportion possessed by Rubel Freres in the execution of all of their jewels.