I made my way down to the Saatchi Gallery to see the Hermés Festival des Métiers exhibit. I was lucky enough to see the Hermés exhibit at the Royal Academy the previous year and had no plans to miss this.

As someone who is an erstwhile jewellery/ maker I have a great affection and admiration for jewellery, couturier, sculptures, metal smithing the list could go on and on. The  process that goes into crafting an object  fascinates me. Is it just: idea – design – execution? Not really but that is a whole other story.

The exhibit was a like a miniature Hermés atelier right in the middle of the Saatchi gallery.

As you walked in there was a display of the leathers and the crafting of their coveted bags.

There was  a lady by the name of Christina who was demonstrating the process of how they created the  designs on their Limoges ashtrays and dishes which can take of 7 to 8 days to complete. Why does it take so long? because after each colour (that forms the complete design) is hand painted on the dish it has to be fired. This is done for each colour until the design is complete.

There was also a young woman setting diamonds in a bangle which I, sadly, did not photograph. I was too busy admiring the diamonds and dreaming of the day when I will be in a position like hers.

The process that of course garnered the biggest crowds was the silk screening for their beloved scarves and ties where Mr. Kamel Hamadou was the master of ceremony.

He took us through the silk of how the scarves are made (silk screen, no digital here) but the fascinating part for me was in the designs. Before a scarf can be made there has to be a design. This design is then etched onto film (by hand). For each motif of the design there is a separate sheet of film. As you can imagine the intricate the design the more layers there are. The finished product is divine.

At the exhibit I had the pleasure of speaking with a charming older woman who had scarf from the 1930’s that was given to by her great-grand mother.  She went to tellme  that when she purchased her first Hermés scarf it cost her £25.00 which at the time was one weeks rent. Oh have the times have changed.

I left the exhibit full of appreciation admiration for the house of Hermés.  They way that have opened their doors to the public so they can see first hand how they craft the beautiful items they sell. It made me really think do I really want something that is cheaply made in a sweatshop that will likely fall apart after a few wears or do I want something timeless, beautiful with the signature of the person that made it? I think we know the answer to that question.

Merci to Christina for the lovely souvenir