It was born in Belgium in the early 1970s, amid the world of fine arts. The first day dedicated to women's rights was taking shape around Simone de Beauvoir, and the protection of the environment and living world was becoming a cause. The heart of the Low Countries sang as much as it beat. It was there that Pascale Chavepeyer and Enzo Amaddeo met and found each other.

Both intoxicated by the beauty of nature and inspired by what stirs within it, their sketchbooks gradually filled with the brilliant colours surrounding them. Through reveries and wanderings, the drawings gathered on every journey eventually formed a shared project — the necessity, through art, of celebrating life in all its forms.

From a love blossoming around powerful and wild nature came the obvious need to seal the union of their two visions in an object with the same timeless qualities: jewellery. They moved to France, and it was in Nice — the ever faithful — that they chose to found, in 1980, the Maison Les Nereides.

They work at creating what today makes them renowned throughout the world: the perpetual wonder of nature rendered in material form.

Each collection is conceived as an ode to vegetation, creatures and the sea — to the simple joy of contemplating them with the sparkling eyes of a child. It is this dreamlike fantasy, rooted in the sensory, that speaks to everyone in its pure authenticity, through jewels created in a Parisian atelier.

If the Maison Les Nereides is today present in nearly 400 multi-brand retailers and 70 boutiques across France and internationally, it is because of what it evokes and embodies. Nourished by the techniques of fine jewellery, their vision of haute fantaisie is that of a craftsman as much as a storyteller.

For over 40 years, Pascale and Enzo Amaddeo have breathed their creativity into ever-renewed collections — and this has been possible, in no small part, thanks to their children.

Their son and three daughters gradually joined them, each in a role that gives full expression to their unique talent: Pier-Paolo in Artistic Direction, Bianca in Visual Identity, Valentina in Product Development, and Nina, who established the English subsidiary as early as 1990.

It is this family heritage, this shared creative fulfilment, that continues to nourish the life of the Maison — reinventing it season after season through the many collections that tell its story.

To this ever-curious gaze upon the surrounding world, and the innovative refinement that flows from it, is joined one immutable constant: the perpetuation of the family's values and commitment to what lies closest to their hearts.

Since 2015, through the Les Nereides Loves Animals foundation, one collection per season is dedicated to the animal cause. Through this exclusive collection, 15% of the sale price of each piece is donated to shelters and associations working to protect animals in danger, abandoned or ill. This commitment has raised over 500,000 euros since its founding, financing various organisations across the world.

Each piece is born from a drawing straight out of the creators' imagination. As in fine jewellery, the pieces are gouached — rendered in full colour before being brought to life. The jewels are then crafted and subtly hand-painted.

Every floral or animal detail is coloured by brush with great subtlety in the choice of tones. It is a painstaking task, where each detail is the result of an artisan's work by hand. The stones adorning the jewels are also custom-cut; the glass stones of the iconic La Diamantine collection were specially faceted for that purpose. Through this attention to gesture, every piece is unique.