From my workshop in the city of Lyons, where the first French medal was struck over five hundred years ago, I'm fighting to keep this know-how alive and see the long line of engravers that links us to the past continue uninterrupted.

What made me decide to become an engraver and medallist ?

As I child, I knew already that I wanted to do something manual that involved drawing. I was often either drawing or building playhouses in the forest, slowly but surely paving the way for my future occupation. School and I didn't get on very well together.
One of my key childhood figures, my grandfather, once said to me: "When you grow up, you'll go to the Ecole Boulle*".
In 1985, after realising that I needed to work, I went along to the famous school, enrolled to become a cabinetmaker, like my grandfather. As it turned out, though, I discovered a different material to work with and a whole new world: steel engraving. Pierre Mignot, my workshop teacher, rekindled my passion for drawing and manual work and, in the space of five years, taught me the ropes of engraving.

In 1992, fresh out of school, I had my first taste of the working world - not an easy one, as it was the "pins" craze and there were few takers for traditional medals.

In 1994, a subsidiary of A. Augis (founded in 1830 in Lyons, France) was looking to replace the head of its engraving workshop. I was approached for the job, so left the capital of France for the capital of ancient Gaul, i.e. Lugdunum, now Lyons. There I was shown works by Claude Cardot, a renowned engraver and medallist who won the Meilleur Ouvrier de France award (for France's best craftsman) in 1972. The expectations were very high, so I had to acquire specialised experience and establish myself as workshop head, while at the same time honing my engraving skills.

In 1997, I was ready for a change from the routine of the workshop and keen to learn from my forerunners in the field, so I entered the competition for the "Meilleurs Ouvriers de France" award in engraving (held every three years). Three years later, and after a lot of hard work, I submitted two engravings: a hand-engraving of the face of a young girl, modelled on Vigée-Lebrun, and an original design on the theme of "one of the twelve labours of Hercules". In November 2000, my peers recognised my expertise by awarding me the title "M.O.F.", one of the best craftsmen in France.

In 2003, I set up my own business, fiercely determined to do in my job what others are doing less and less: I am persevering on the road to quality and, as I go, conquering increasingly prestigious markets.
My first official commission was for the City of Lyons. It was followed by a new medal for the Villa Medici in Rome and, more importantly, the medal for the president of the French Republic.


(1)"Ecole Boulle is a renowned applied arts school in Paris, named after the cabinetmaker André-Charles Boulle. Since its establishment in 1886, it has provided training in art, design and industrial techniques.