About Rémy Rotenier
photo by Sam Alfano
Born and raised in Paris, one of Rémy Rotenier's grandfathers designed lingerie and his father and uncle owned their own firm designing and manufacturing custom leather and fur outerwear in Paris. Rémy received his bachelors degree in jewelry design from the French jeweler’s union BJOP Formation at the Écoles de la Rue du Louvre, and received a graduate degree in gemology from the National Institute of Gemology in Paris. In New York he received a certificate in diamond grading from the Gemological Institute of America.
Building on his classical European training, the stones worn by his grandmother and her friends, and his understanding of the qualities and characteristics of stones, in 2013 he introduced a proprietary design for transparent cut stones, the "Rémy CutTM." With enhanced sparkle, inspired by the old European, or "Miner's Cut," the "Rémy CutTM" has been a popular feature of the "Rémy Rotenier for Bella Luce" collection at Jewelry Television. These new designs for faceted stones will soon be available to jewelers everywhere through a major gemstone supplier.
As an intern at Cristofol Frères in Paris in 1984, Rotenier learned classic jewelry rendering and design of jeweled objets d’art including clocks, and desk accessories. He was also employed in Paris by Alexandre Reza and Serge Bouder before John Loring, Design Director of Tiffany & Company brought him to New York as a staff designer in 1990. His older brother, Robin, had settled in New York a few years earlier and established his award-winning jewelry company Rotenier Ltd. in 1993. Rémy moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico in 1994 as Design Director for Kabana, Inc. He became President of Rémy Design in 2006.
With Rémy Design, Rotenier has developed his own collections including Rémy Rotenier for Bella Luce and Lutece by Rémy for Jewelry Television, and creates custom designs for private clients. He also regularly teaches jewelry design and rendering privately in New Mexico as well as classes in San Francisco, New York, Maine, Montana, and Texas. At the request of his students, Rémy has summarized his teaching techniques in three extensive DVD-based classes. Discover more about these at the Teaching link on this website.
Rémy has drawn and painted all his life and studied painting with various instructors and the Atep3 program in preparation for admission to the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris, and was inspired to push beyond his previous experience while studying watercolor with David Welch in Albuquerque.