Spanish-born Esty Grossman left her adopted home of Montreal nearly two decades ago after winning an international jewellery-design prize that landed her a three-year rent-free residency in the French medieval hill town of Cagnes-sur-Mer. While there, she put down roots, taking over an ancient winery that she converted into a workshop where she creates her eponymous jewellery line for Birks in Canada.
"I'm a contemporary designer, but the old stone walls, the Roman arches and the built-in wine press in this room give me a feeling of history. I find it quite comforting," says the designer, who is known only by her first name. "And it isn't just where I work, but where I invite people to share in my latest designs as well as a cup of tea."
1. The yellow wall "I painted the wall and ceiling ochre to bring in a feeling of sunshine because where I work is basically a cave, literally underground. This burst of yellow lightens up the space."
2. The wooden screw "This is the centrepiece of the old wine press. The locals made wine here for the neighbouring chateau as recently as 30 years ago. They tell me that donkeys used to walk in circles in here to get the screw to move up and down. I now use it as a display piece for some of my favourite things, like this abalone shell that I brought back from a trip to California and the vase full of dried flowers collected on my strolls through the [local] countryside."
3. The anvil "I buy old tools from retired jewellers here, but this anvil was a gift from 70-year-old retiree, my first friend in the area who recently passed away. He lived in Biot, a neighbouring village about 10 kilometres away. I love it because it's where my pieces take shape. My favourite technique is hammering silver and gold in flat sheets and creating shapes and volume out of them."
4. The wooden work bench "I bought this when I was first studying jewellery design in Barcelona about 20 years ago. It came with me to Paris, where I worked in haute couture, and then here to the south of France. This is where I sit for hours, working and playing with all my pieces before assembling them."
5. The blue chair "It's a chair made entirely of mosaics and weighs about 30 kilos - impossible to move. An artist friend of mine in Nice made it. She used to have her workshop next to mine, about 10 years ago. I swapped one of my jewellery pieces for that chair and I consider it a good deal. It's here to stay."
6. The fan coral leaf "I found this just off the Honduran coast while on a dive trip to Roatan. It's the second-largest coral reef in the world, after Australia, and I went there because I'm a diver. I dive daily here in France, but in winter I seek warmer waters. I love this coral because it's as delicate as lace. I used it as the inspiration for the Fan Coral collection I created for Birks, a sample of which is there beside it, on a bust: a fan coral necklace made from 17 interlocking pieces of silver."