“Look at the details on this,” says Caroline Gauthier, the creative director of Goossens, holding up a golden hydrangea leaf, its delicate veins just visible in the workshop’s stark light. Moulded from a real plant, the challenge was to capture the leaf’s fine details in brass – the main material used to craft Goossens’ jewellery collections. This is then dipped in 24-carat gold to create a delicate replica.

The same technique was used to mould a hazelnut, half a walnut shell and a poppy, all foraged during a forest stroll and brought back to the atelier to be transformed into jewellery. “Goossens is about craftsmanship, of course, but it’s also a question of seeing,” says Gauthier. The 44-year-old designer, who wears the golden hazelnut on a simple red thread around her neck, is only just audible over the drilling, buzzing and hammering that echo through the workshop, which is in Paris’s 19th arrondissement. “Our artisans work with their hands but always with an eye for beauty. That’s what gives a piece of jewellery its soul.”

Gauthier, who has some 20 years’ experience in the world of accessory design, is Goossens’ first creative director since the death of its founder, Robert Goossens, in 2016. The appointment is a sign of the house’s ambition to expand. Goossens has long been the go-to for fashion houses seeking a partner to help them develop jewellery collections – but with Gauthier at the helm, there’s a new opportunity to be more creative, step into the spotlight andbecome equally known for its in-house designs.

A graduate of École Duperré Paris, Gauthier started her career at Maison Michel and Chanel before moving on to Marc Jacobs’ studio at Louis Vuitton and spending 10 years as the head of design for fashion accessories at Hermès. It was at Louis Vuitton that she first collaborated with Goossens. “At the time, I was struck by the fact that there were no limits to its creativity,” she says. “Together with Nathalie Abscheidt, Goossens’ atelier manager, we brought so many exciting projects to life.”

Founded in the 1950s, the atelier is known for its signature style that blends fine jewellery making with the creative freedom of creating costume pieces. Precious metals are embellished with freshwater pearls, rock crystals, semi-precious stones or glass-paste inserts, mirroring the founder’s obsession with Byzantine and Egyptian antiques. His creative flair caught the eye of Gabrielle Chanel in 1954, who entrusted him with designing the fashion house’s jewellery collections. That first endorsement initiated a long line of fashion collaborations. The house made jewellery for Yves Saint Laurent for more than 30 years, working closely with Loulou de la Falaise, but also for 1990s icons such as John Galliano, Alexander McQueen and Thierry Mugler. More recently, Goossens helped to create the bejewelled plastron spotted on Sarah Burton’s first runway for Givenchy.

In a full-circle moment, Chanel bought Goossens in 2005 and the latter became the main jewellery manufacturer for the brand. In the atelier, now inside Le19m – Chanel’s home for the Métiers d’Arts – Abscheidt’s workbench, decorated with dried flowers and colourful crystals, proudly bears Karl Lagerfeld’s signature.

Walking into the Goossens workshop, you’re immediately greeted by many rows of beaten-up tools that line the walls and weathered workbenches littered with pearls, crystals and twisted pieces of precious metal. “I feel incredibly lucky to be in such close contact with the atelier,” says Gauthier. “When I arrived, I made sure to spend time with every artisan to understand their technique and see what’s possible. We’re in constant dialogue. Witnessing a piece of jewellery being born in real time is very exciting.”

At the beginning of every collection, Gauthier brings her ideas and sketches to the atelier. After visiting the Arte Povera exhibition at the Bourse de Commerce last winter, she became obsessed with the idea of creating jewellery inspired by Giuseppe Penone’s tree sculptures. She headed straight to what the Goossens team calls the “foundry”, a small room where two artisans ladle bubbling pewter into lost-wax casting, an ancient technique used to create jewellery moulds. Many different versions were made until the right shape and texture were obtained, and the result became part of the Balade line, a segment of the autumn/winter 2025 collection: a brooch, a cuff bracelet, a torque and an oversized pendant shaped like a sinewy tree branch.

Gauthier’s ambition for Goossens is to help it reach new audiences by bringing back archival designs with a contemporary twist. “I ensure that our collections have something for everyone, from an ear cuff or small animal charm to more show-stopping pieces,” she says. “Going through the archives is like opening a treasure trove. You never know what you’ll find when you open a drawer.” Her personal collection has significantly grown since joining. Her first pick was the house’s signature astrology necklace. Her star sign? “I’m a Leo, just like Coco Chanel,” she says.
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