Valérie Messika never thought she would open a boutique on Paris’s Rue de la Paix. When she founded her eponymous brand in 2005, her fashion jewellery aesthetic seemed a world removed from the high-jewellery collections of the centuries-old maisons lining the three blocks that connect the Place de l’Opéra with the 17th-century Place Vendôme.
So, when she was looking to open her first boutique in 2013, Messika instead chose the more fashion-oriented Rue Saint-Honoré. But, when her father, diamond dealer André Messika, alerted her that a unit had become available on Rue de la Paix during the Covid lockdowns of 2020, Messika realised that her brand — now replete with several high jewellery collections — had come of age.
“We thought it was now the time to stand next to the big, historic actors in the industry,” says Messika of her decision to open a flagship boutique on the street in December 2023.
Built like a vault, with floor-to-ceiling brushed metal drawers and a staircase inviting the visitor to a sleek underground bar, the interior was created by Messika working with design company Bureau Betak. They wanted to fashion a space that invites the customer to play. “I used to remember the bank with all the drawers, so I thought it could be something funny and a bit playful, having those jewellery boxes that appears making a bit of mystery,” Messika says.
The boutique deviates from the brand’s other branches by focusing squarely on its high jewellery collections, including Midnight Sun, Beyond the Light, and a collaboration with fashion model Kate Moss.
“The brand had evolved,” says Jean-Baptiste Sassine, Messika’s husband and chief executive of the jeweller. “When we started in Saint-Honoré, we were not doing as much high jewellery as we are doing today. That’s why you open up your mind into going into Rue de la Paix, because we really wanted to have a temple of high jewellery for Messika.”
Messika is not alone. This winter, South African-British diamond jeweller De Beers will open a 350 square metre, two-floor flagship boutique, having chosen the Rue de la Paix over Paris sites offering vastly higher footfall, including the nearby Avenue des Champs-Élysées.
For Vincent Ascher, international partner in retail at property company Cushman & Wakefield, the arrival of Messika and De Beers on Rue de la Paix signals a post-Covid renaissance for the street. “Over the past five to six years, Rue de la Paix has been considered as a sleeping beauty,” he says.
Average annual rents per square metre on the Rue de la Paix and Place Vendôme fell to a post-Covid low of €10,500 in 2022, having stood at €13,500 in 2019.
Though still below 2019 levels, rents on the street increased to €10,750 in 2024. Ascher says this renaissance has also been spurred by Cartier, which has traded on the street since 1899, reopening its historic maison at No 13 following a two-year closure for renovation. “After some significant moves, we can say that Rue de la Paix is back,” he reports.
The Pierre-Yves Rochon-designed De Beers boutique will feature a new store concept to be rolled out across all locations, as well as high jewellery pieces unique to the branch.
Céline Assimon, De Beers chief executive, says the choice of Rue de la Paix was the culmination of a three-year search, as a standalone Paris location became an imperative for the brand. “For us, it was Rue de la Paix/Place Vendôme. This is where you need to be in the high jewellery business. It’s important for the credibility of the brand and the audiences we cater to.”
Indeed, the Rue de la Paix occupies a hallowed space in the French cultural imagination. As the most expensive place on the standard French Monopoly board, the street has long been synonymous with aspiration. Built in the early 19th century on the orders of Napoleon — and originally named Rue Napoléon — the street acquired its current name from the peace (paix) brokered following Napoleon’s loss at the battle of Waterloo.
The first jeweller to set up shop on the thoroughfare was François Mellerio in 1815. Founded in 1613 and renowned for its patented 57 facet diamond cut, Mellerio continues to trade at No 9 as the oldest jewellery business in the world. Current president and artistic director, Laure-Isabelle Mellerio, is the 14th generation to maintain the family business, while her son, 15th generation Côme Mellerio recently joined the business as international business development director.
“The decision in 1815 to be in the centre of Rue de la Paix was really to make a link between the past — the Louvre, Place Vendôme and l’Opéra,” explains Christophe Mélard, Mellerio managing director.
In the second half of the 19th century, wealthy tourists would flock from the then new grands magasins department stores in the north, through the street and the Place Vendôme to the Jardin des Tuileries in the south. With their presence, the street flourished — attracting an influx of jewellers and couturiers, including Louis Cartier and Charles Worth.
“In that sense, it’s really an important street,” says Min Kyung Lee, chair of growth and structure of cities at Bryn Mawr College near Philadelphia and author of The Tyranny of the Straight Line: Mapping Modern Paris. “Spatially, it was connecting the new retail spaces and department stores of the nouveau riche around Avenue de l’Opéra to the older, more royal hôtels particuliers, very courtly spaces.”
This location would be pivotal to Mellerio’s early success. During the reign of Louis XVI, Mellerio became official jeweller to the French court after Jean-Baptiste Mellerio was spotted by Marie Antoinette selling jewellery at the gates of Versailles.
Today, this heritage continues to inspire Laure-Isabelle Mellerio. In the brand’s current Cabinet de Curiosités collection, she has reimagined one of Marie Antoinette’s purchases: a historic bracelet featuring cameos of seven Roman emperors carved into agate, as ruby and diamond-topped cameo medals.
Last year, the original bracelet owned by Marie Antoinette went on display as part of a residency for the brand at the Bergdorf Goodman department store in New York. The success of the pop-up, the brand’s first foray into the US market, was followed by a more permanent presence in the store’s jewellery department.
When the Bergdorf Goodman team discovered the archive, “they said, ‘How has it been possible for Mellerio not to present in the US for such a long time?’”, says Mélard. “We have been so pleased and so amazed to realise how American people were enthusiasts regarding the strong history, the family, the kings and queens. Americans are extremely excited about that kind of true storytelling.”
As Mellerio continues its fifth century in business with a new international focus, eight doors down at No 17, the jeweller Poiray is celebrating its 50th year similarly in a New York state of mind.
This March, Poiray will be part of the launch offering in the new Printemps department store to open on Wall Street. Founded on the Rue de la Paix in 1975 by François Hérail and Michel Ermel, the Printemps opening will be the jeweller’s first presence in the US. For sale will be the brand’s signature Ma Premiere watch and Coeur Entrelacé jewellery collections.
Meanwhile at No 13, Messika is preparing to celebrate its 20th anniversary, and Sassine is also happy that the recent opening of a boutique on the Avenue des Champs-Élysées means the brand now has a presence on the two most expensive squares of the French Monopoly board.
For Valerie Messika, landing on Rue de la Paix has been the chance of a lifetime. “For me it’s the jewellery street,” she says.
