Enchanté! I’m delighted to be able to present you with a new edition of the Gem Journal. On this occasion too, we’ll be off on a fascinating journey. After all, what city embodies that luxurious attitude to life better than Paris, the capital of haute joaillerie? Having said that, even the most magnificent item of jewellery needs a stone that has been cut to perfection: so it’s a good thing that Idar-Oberstein is not all that far away. And you can enjoy a fairly luxurious life in my hometown too. On the pages that follow, you can learn plenty of interesting things about Franco-German gemstone history and you will also see that my treasure chamber holds numerous items that glitter in the colours of the Tricolore…