【Saint-Dié-de】LVMH Subsidiary, Jeweler Orest, Opens Manufacturing Facility with 200 Jobs in the Vosges

LVMH Subsidiary, Jeweler Orest, Opens Manufacturing Facility with 200 Jobs in the Vosges
Published on March 8, 2024, by Philippe Bohlinger
Between 7,000 and 10,000 diamonds are set daily at Orest in Saint-Dié-des-Vosges, in the dedicated workstations. © Philippe Bohlinger
Orest, an Alsatian company and subsidiary of LVMH, inaugurated its new fine jewelry unit in Saint-Dié-des-Vosges on March 6. It has invested €7.5 million in this highly secure site, which employs 200 people and primarily supplies the luxury giant’s house, Tiffany & Co.
In Orest’s workshops in Saint-Dié-des-Vosges, skilled hands work diligently to polish, engrave, and set jewelry for major houses such as Tiffany & Co., Cartier, or Dior. Between 7,000 and 10,000 diamonds are set each day on rings, earrings, pendants…
On Wednesday, March 6, this Alsatian jeweler inaugurated its new manufacturing facility located in the Vosges at the foot of the mountain range. The event was marked by the presence of Alexandre Arnault, Vice President of Tiffany & Co. and son of Bernard Arnault, the head of LVMH. This prestigious attendance was no coincidence: for six months, Orest has been a subsidiary of the luxury giant.
The site is expected to dedicate half of its production to Tiffany & Co. by the end of 2024. © Philippe Bohlinger
Orest thus wanted to celebrate “a human success” that has allowed dozens of workers from this employment area “to become jewelers regardless of their initial qualifications,” noted Denis de Becker, President of the Alsatian company. Among these new artisan jewelers are a former florist and ex-operators from the automotive industry.
They meticulously assemble Tiffany Lock products, whose design, characteristic of the highly sought-after brand across the Atlantic, is inspired by a padlock. A little further on, a workstation named “training dojo” is reserved for learning the techniques specific to each new Orest-stamped piece of jewelry.
The success of this project is also economic and financial for this company of 750 employees, which achieved a turnover of €110 million in 2023.

This organization was initially deployed on a temporary site in Saint-Dié-des-Vosges starting in 2021. At the time, the jeweler was cramped in its headquarters in Erstein (Bas-Rhin). It has made its second Vosges location permanent by investing €7.5 million in a new 2,800 m² facility.
Two-thirds of the budget was allocated to constructing the highly secure premises, for obvious reasons related to the value of the crafted pieces, which range from €1,000 to €50,000 per item. The remaining third was used to acquire production equipment, including over 120 setting and jewelry benches, high-precision equipment (binoculars, laser pointers, etc.), engraving tools, and a rhodium plating line, a process designed to prevent oxidation.
This facility will be completed by mid-2024 with a foundry, modeled on the one in Erstein, to produce pieces on-site from precious alloy granules.

From left to right: David Valence, MP for the Vosges; Alexandre Arnault, Vice President of Tiffany & Co.; Denis de Becker, President of Orest; and Bruno Toussaint, Mayor of Saint-Dié-des-Vosges, inaugurated the new factory on March 6, 2024. © Philippe Bohlinger
The Saint-Dié-des-Vosges site currently employs 150 permanent staff and 50 temporary workers. However, its workforce could rise to 300 people by the end of 2024. Alexandre Arnault has indeed made no secret of his ambition to dedicate half of the factory’s production to Tiffany & Co. by that time. The 31-year-old businessman, expected to join LVMH’s board of directors next April, explains that the American brand “needs to secure production capacities to guarantee its growth.” Furthermore, he continues,

For Denis de Becker, the financial strength of the parent company helps “to further arm our company in case of a storm.” The French luxury giant has owned, since September 2023, the holding company previously held by the Andera Partners fund and Bpifrance, of which Orest is the flagship. This group also includes the precious metal machining specialist BD Product in Mamirolle (Doubs), as well as the high jewelry manufacturer Abysse, based in Paris and La Rochelle (Charente-Maritime), totaling a combined workforce of 1,000 people.

The LVMH subsidiary has built new 2,800 m² premises. © Philippe Bohlinger
For its part, Orest is contributing its “stone” to the qualification of the local workforce. For example, about twenty former employees of Inteva Products, an automotive supplier that ceased production at the end of 2020 in the Saint-Dié-des-Vosges area, have been trained in its trades.
Together with another local jewelry manufacturer, Aurigane, the group launched a jewelry qualification certificate in autumn 2023, in partnership with the UIMM Lorraine training center (Union of Metallurgy Trades) and the Grand Est region. These partners hope to open a CAP (professional aptitude certificate) in jewelry at the local Baumont high school by the start of the 2025 school year. This will help to restore the industrial prestige of the Vosges region.
An employment area, four luxury players
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