As the sporting world heats up for the upcoming 2024 Paris Olympic Games, more teasers from the big event have started dropping. One particularly interesting nugget is the reveal of the medals for the Olympics and Paralympics. Traditionally designed and crafted by the host city, this year has seen the Parisian organising committee partnering with the French luxury conglomerate LVMH. And coming out of the jewellery workshops of 12 Place Vendôme this year are the gold, silver and bronze medals designed and crafted by Chaumet.
The French maison, founded in 1780, makes history now as the first jeweller to design and create medals for the Olympic Games. It seems stunningly obvious now that such pieces of precious hardware meant to celebrate pinnacles of achievement should come from jewellers. But a first, nonetheless, has been minted. “More than a medal, this is a combination of the most coveted object of the Games and the most iconic symbol of Paris,” shared Tony Estanguet, president of Paris 2024, in a press release. “Thanks to Chaumet,” he added, “the medal for the Paris 2024 Games becomes a veritable objet d’art“.
On Chaumet’s part, the house’s design studio drew inspiration from both its own and Paris’ heritage. There’s the hexagonal structure of the medals, for one, which are a nod to both France’s nickname of l’hexagone—because of the country’s approximate shape—and, perhaps, Chaumet’s own Bee My Love collection of fine jewellery which centres repeated hexagonal beehive motifs.
There are two sets of medals, one for the Olympics and one for the Paralympics. What they share in common is the design on the front: a hexagonal piece of iron engraved with the five-rings and agitos logos. These hexagons are actually pieces of scrapped iron that come from the Eiffel Tower. Not to say that Paris’ most famous landmark is in any risk of swaying. The iron, in fact, comes from the major refurbishment works that began on the Eiffel Tower in 2023 in preparation for the Games.
The hexagonal motif is set in place using a jeweller’s technique, the ‘griffe’, or claw, setting in which six prongs secure the iron to the medal at each of the hexagon’s points. You might recognise it as the way precious gemstones are commonly set on jewellery. Chaumet has even worked these prongs into faceted square studs, a motif known as clous de paris, or hobnails. They’re meant as a reference to Parisian savoir-faire—you’ll find the decorative pattern employed through carving or guilloché in a lot of jewellery and watch designs. And framing these hexagons is ridged faceting arranged as rays, designed to reflect and play with light—fitting for the City of Light.
On the reverse, the Olympic and Paralympic medals feature different designs that connect the host city of Paris to Greece, the birthplace of the Games. On the former, a carved image of the Greek goddess of victory Nike leaving the Panathenaic Stadium, the site of the first modern Olympics in 1896, flanked by the Acropolis of Athens and the Eiffel Tower. On the latter, a view looking up from the foot of the Eiffel Tower and inscribed with ‘Paris 2024′ in universal Braille—a language coincidentally invented by a Frenchman, Louis Braille.
Lots of symbolism by Chaumet, and a precious cultural touch imparted by one of Paris’ own shining jewels. “This first ever Olympic medal created by a jeweller is emblematic of LVMH’s role as a creative partner of the Olympic and Paralympic Games Paris 2024,” said Antoine Arnault, the conglomerate’s head of image and environment. And the unveiling of Chaumet’s medals are just the start. Other maisons from the LVMH group are also expected to contribute their creativity and craftsmanship. Menswear label Berluti, for example, will dress the French athletes for the Games’s opening ceremony. Luxury behemoths Dior and Louis Vuitton are also said to be engaged as partners, though their respective contributions have yet to be announced.
