手工绘图师

[A sustained note in the background]

(On-screen text: Chopard presents)

(Jean-Claude puts sheets of paper covered in pencil drawings onto a desk and begins to sketch ideas, including a facetted heart shape surrounded by teardrop-shaped jewels. He briefly holds up a sparkling piece of jewellery made from his design.)

In the early days I wanted to design advertising graphics. But the meanders of life led me to begin designing jewellery.

(On-screen text: ART, from the Latin ARS, ARTIS. Talent, skill, dexterity.)

[Soft piano music plays]

(On-screen text: The word ART becomes ARTISAN.) (On-screen text: From expertise to emotion. Chopard)

(A black and white graphite sketch of the palm of a hand, surrounded by the words EXPERTISE, CREATIVITY, EMOTION.)

The hand is a prodigious tool.

(A portrait of Jean-Claude.)

(On-screen text: Design Drafting Artisan)

It is an extension of the soul.

(Jean-Claude sits at his drawing board, sets up his equipment and begins to draw.)

I started working for Chopard 18 years ago.

(On-screen text: Sketch the future jewel)

(Jean-Claude begins to trace out lines with a mechanical pencil that transform into floral shapes and begin to take on the form of the heart-shaped piece of jewellery.)

My work is driven above all else by a passion for drawing. A design often begins with a research stage, making sketches. We tend to say that we are like sponges, we feed on everything. It can be a small architectural detail, or the exhibition we're going to see, it can be a stroll, autumn leaves underfoot… And then one shape summons another. And then at some point, we are drawn to a composition, and begin to develop it.

(On-screen text: Inking the final drawing)

(Jean-Claude traces over the outlines of his drawing using a black liner.)

Our mission, is to create designs that are relevant, in other words, that satisfy me from an aesthetic point of view.

(On-screen text: Adding colour)

And these designs encounter a sense of belonging in others, they stimulate emotion, leading to the purchase.

(Jean-Claude uses ink pens in different shades of blue and purple to colour his design, adding glints and reflects with white gouache paint.)

At that moment I feel that I have succeeded in my mission. On a more personal note, what I like about a piece of jewellery, is when there's a little touch of humour, of mischief. The emotion that I sometimes feel, is when the hand has finally succeeded in accurately translating the idea that I had in mind.

(Jean-Claude holds up the finished piece of jewellery next to his original design and studies it proudly.)

I consider myself a craftsman. To me, drawing is like words, it's a means of expression, it's a language, it's my language anyway.

(On-screen text: Chopard - The artisan of emotions - Since 1860)