Valentin Gilbert, a creator at the crossroads of tradition and digital precision

He speaks of his jewelry as stories waiting to be told. With his Atelier Gilbert, Valentin restores jewelry to its most human dimension: one of memory, transmission, and craftsmanship. A meeting with a creator for whom each piece is a story to be lived.

Hello Valentin, could you introduce yourself?

My name is Valentin Gilbert, jewelry designer and creator.
I design custom pieces for workshops and private clients, entirely crafted in 3D, with the level of precision and rigor inherited from traditional jewelry-making.

I love creating a dialogue between ancestral craftsmanship and digital precision, bringing to life jewelry that tells a story — the story of the material, the stone, and the people who wear it.

Portrait of Valentin Gilbert

What were the key stages in your training journey?

I started with a work-study program in a design office dedicated to creating pieces for several jewelry houses on Place Vendôme.
That’s where I learned the discipline of drawing, the precision of volume, the respect for proportions, and the mastery of detail.
There, we were taught that jewelry is not just a sketch: it is a science of proportion and coherence.

Then I joined a more traditional workshop, where I discovered the reality of the craft: lost-wax casting, the constraints of metal, the nonexistent margins for error, patience, and above all the technical logic behind every gesture.
There, I was at once a caster, model maker, and 3D designer.

These two experiences gave me an essential foundation: understanding that this profession isn’t something you observe — it’s something you live.
They taught me to combine respect for traditional craftsmanship with the rigor of digital design.

Today, I founded Atelier Gilbert, where I devote myself to jewelry design and creation with a clear vision:
to create pieces with a soul, meant to be lived in, not locked away.

What do you love about this profession?

What fascinates me in this profession is creating pieces that carry a story.
A piece of jewelry is never just a precious object: it is often the witness of a moment, a bond, a family legacy.

Many clients come with an idea, but also with a personal history — a stone from their grandmother, a wedding band from their great-grandfather…
These are fragments of life.
My role is to transform these memories into a new piece of jewelry, a creation that extends their story while becoming a piece in its own right, ready to be passed on in turn.

Could you tell us about your creative process?

The process always begins with listening: we talk about their story, the emotion behind the project, and what they want to feel when wearing the piece.

Then come the sketches, the shape studies, the modeling — each step guided by that human dimension.

Creating a piece of jewelry means giving shape to a memory and accompanying someone through an important moment in their life.

What are your sources of inspiration?

I draw a lot from what withstands time: antiquity, architecture, historical ornaments, but also nature, with its organic lines and spontaneous movements.
I love understanding how things were conceived, built, sculpted — whether it’s the façade of a building, the vein of a leaf, or an ancient motif forgotten in a decorative art detail.

And then, there is mechanics.
One day, someone told me they could tell I came from that world — you can find in my creations an internal logic, a discreet precision, almost a hidden mechanism.
I think that’s simply my way of designing: balancing poetry and structure, softness and rigor, emotion and technique.

For me, inspiration is a bridge between what is eternal and what is ingenious.

Valentin Gilbert, what techniques do you use?

I mainly use computer-aided design, but everything always begins with a sketch on paper. This step is essential: it allows the client to visualize the spirit of the piece and to validate the aesthetic from the very beginning.

Then I model the piece in 3D, which offers a millimetric level of precision essential to ensuring the balance, comfort, and durability of the design.
Once the modeling is complete, I print a resin prototype using a 3D printer. The client can then handle the piece, try it on, feel the volumes, and request adjustments if needed.

Once everything is approved, this prototype becomes the basis for casting: it is melted down to be transformed into gold.

It’s a hybrid process that I particularly appreciate: the hand, the eye, and the traditional gesture tell the story of digital precision.
It ensures jewelry that is perfectly conceived while preserving the poetry and intention of custom-made pieces.

“Le Danseur” sautoir, born from a thread of gold and a heartbeat.

Could you share one of your signature creations with us?

One of my most striking pieces is a yellow gold sautoir representing a dancer.
It was born from a thread of gold and a heartbeat.
Neither man nor woman — just a free silhouette, suspended between two chains, as if between the sky and the earth.

This dancer does not seek to be seen.
He dances to remember.
Each movement tells a story: those we leave behind, those we carry with us, and those we never dared to express in any way other than through the body.

This piece of jewelry is his stage.
With every touch of the skin, he comes back to life.
And if you listen closely, you can almost hear him whisper:
“I am not fixed. I am movement. I am freedom.”
I crafted this piece from A to Z: from the sketch to the sculpture, from the casting to the assembly.
It was born from a precise gesture and a sincere emotion.
For me, it is my vision of grace translated into gold.

Could you tell us about your latest creation using the synthetics stones you purchased online from the DALLOZ Stones & Rough boutique?

I imagined these two rings as a contemporary duo designed to interact with one another.
The first is an open ring, centered around a tanzanite and set with small synthetic sapphires to enhance its depth.
The second, more graphic, is a double ring that spans two fingers, featuring a princess-cut sapphire and a pavé of round dark blue synthetic sapphire corundums sourced from the Dalloz Stones & Rough online store.

The idea was to explore the balance between strength and lightness, between natural stones and synthetic ones. Beyond their origin, it is the color, the light, and the precision of the jewelry craftsmanship that truly evoke emotion.

I must say that the quality of the stones greatly contributed to this harmony: their consistency and the uniformity of their calibers were impeccable, perfectly aligned with my expectations. This level of regularity allowed me to work with great precision and achieve exactly the result I had envisioned for this duo..

Through his words and gestures, Valentin Gilbert reminds us that jewelry is not just a matter of aesthetics: it is a way of giving shape to emotion and extending the connection between material and memory.

In his studio, digital precision blends with the poetry of traditional craftsmanship to create pieces with soul — designed to be worn, lived with, and passed on.
Each piece of jewelry is born from an encounter between the hand, the stone, and the story of the person who wears it.

This vision echoes that of Dalloz Stones & Rough, where the stone is never just a simple material, but the starting point of a creative adventure.
Between tradition and innovation, it is this same quest for authenticity and meaning that connects our worlds: bringing beauty to life, without ever betraying the hand that shapes it.