A concentration of symbols and craftsmanship, Dorothée Potocka’s designs revisit the history of forms and techniques. Delving into a vast iconography, she creates jewellery which, without indulging in nostalgia, weave a tapestry whose original threads are often distant in origin: Russian icons, Early Italian masters or Renaissance painters, divinities and mythological figures, Venus in particular as a female archetype, Ancient Egyptian queens, these fragments of a collective memory are revitalised or given new meaning in her pieces. Water, rocks, light, the heavens, the stars, are elements to which she was magnetically drawn during her childhood summers in the Cyclades, constituting her “first spiritual experience”. Her jewels resonate with this sense of wonder, they fuse nature interpreted in a poetic way with great simplicity: stylised flowers, constellations, the phases of the moon… Overall her collections express a craving for essentials, the necessity to reach the core by using a simple language translating quite straightforwardly the image and the intention it carries.
Each of the themes, rich in symbols, are materialised in a particular medium, a technique requiring exceptional skills which the selected artisans perpetuate and which the designer intends to share. Pietra dura marquetry, the art of cameo, miniature, chiselling, each high jewellery and jewellery piece in the collection, one-offs or in limited edition, result from rare craftsmanship executed in often family-run studios located in Paris or Italy.
Each piece demonstrates the designer’s ultimate ambition, her quest for beauty and meaning which drives a form of consistency and authenticity. Gold is associated with raw natural stones, gems, pearls, coral, hard stones, all natural treasures whose beauty Dorothée Potocka enhances. And because jewellery is in direct contact with the skin, she ensures their softness of touch and comfort of wear. Equally she makes sure her vision is translated down to every detail such as the precious cases made in a Roman workshop run by a supplier to the Vatican or the arrangements in her display cabinets. Inspired and inspiring, her jewellery is stairway to an inner heaven, a conversation between the object and its recipient. Each design, rich in symbols and memories, holds a dream.
In Dorothée Potocka’s creative world everything must make sense, beyond the object and its immediate appeal. While her jewel’s designs are decidedly contemporary, they are intended to be timeless, in a pursuit of truth which only art can reach.
Dorothée Potocka bears the imprint of her lifetime of wanderings. Throughout her childhood her family kept moving and she lived in various countries, learning foreign languages and adopting different cultures. She was born in Lausanne, grew up in Rome, Athens, Geneva, Moscow, before being sent off to boarding school in England to complete her education. As a young adult she settled in Argentina, then Brazil. Later she opted for Houston, then Paris and finally Florence where she has been living since 2020. These experiences have forged her character and broadened the cosmopolitan culture that was her family legacy. Her mother is Swedish and her father the descendant of one of the most illustrious Polish aristocratic families whose members have contributed to the history of many European countries. As a result Dorothée Potocka inherited a cultural depth expressed through values and an art of living which has been preserved despite changing tides of world events. These deep roots have nourished her creativity, a large part of who she has become.
Being permanently uprooted as a child meant she had to develop a great adaptability and curiosity for others. She turned this nomadic way of life into an opportunity: each new country provided new riches. Her imagination fed on the family history, dense and fascinating, just as her own life. Along this remarkable road Dorothée Potocka had to discover her own territory: this territory took shape through her creative venture. She designed her first jewellery in Brazil. It was a way for her to speak up, to express her respect and admiration for women and what they stand for in society, their vulnerability and resilience. For ten years she designed pieces without daring to reveal that she was a creator. The three years she spent in Houston confirmed her choices, and when she moved to Paris with her family in 2017, she set up her own business. One of her ambitions was to work with high jewellery workshops.
The Dorothée Potocka brand was founded in Paris in November 2019. The designer and her family have since settled in Florence, but her jewellery is produced in specialised workshops on both sides of the Alps: mainly in Paris, but also in Florence, Naples,Turin and Rome, depending on the nature of the craftsmanship required. In addition, a distinct range of collectibles, such as unique glasses, are produced in Murano studios.