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Rubel Frères

A Parisian goldsmith atelier that produced jewellery for Cartier and other major houses in the first half of the twentieth century.

· · 216 words · 1 min read

Rubel Frères was a Parisian goldsmith atelier that produced jewellery for Cartier and other major houses in the first half of the twentieth century. The brothers Jean and Robert Rubel opened their workshop in Paris in 1915 and operated from the avenue de l'Opéra through the late 1930s.

The firm belongs to the network of workshop suppliers, alongside Henri Lavabre, Henri Picq, Verger Frères, and Strauss, Allard et Meyer, whose contribution to the physical production of Cartier objects has begun to be documented through hallmark research. The brothers worked from Paris as suppliers to Cartier; one documented example of their mark on a Cartier-signed piece is a 1930s invisibly-set ruby and diamond bracelet offered at Sotheby's in 2025, catalogued as bearing the Cartier London signature together with French assay marks and a Rubel Frères poinçon. The brothers also produced work for Van Cleef & Arpels and Lacloche Frères. In 1940 they relocated to New York, where they worked briefly under the name John Rubel & Co.

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Place Vendôme, Paris, c.1900 — the square at the heart of the luxury jewellery trade, near Cartier's premises at 13 rue de la Paix Cartier Paris → Cartier Jewellery → Henri Lavabre → Henri Picq

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