Culture
At L’ÉCOLE Dubai, Jewelry Culture Now Speaks Arabic
For more than a decade, L’ÉCOLE, School of Jewelry Arts has taught the history of jewelry, the world of gemstones and the savoir-faire behind a piece, first in Paris and then across the world. This September it does so in Arabic. From its Dubai campus, the school supported by Van Cleef & Arpels opens its regular program to Arabic-speaking audiences for the first time, online and in person, through courses, talks and a podcast.
The Courses
Three Ways Into the Craft
From 10 September, three of L’ÉCOLE’s courses are taught in Arabic by the school’s Arabic-speaking lecturers. From Design to Mockup follows a jewel from its first sketch to a three-dimensional model. The Making of a Jewel gives an overview of jewelry history and the know-how a piece demands. The Engagement Ring, A Love Story, looks at the symbols and techniques of an eternal jewel.
Each course is open to everyone, from the curious beginner to the seasoned collector, and each is built around hands-on work rather than lecture alone.
The Talks
Conversations in the Language of the Region
From 16 September, L’ÉCOLE adds a program of talks, in person and online, again in Arabic. They range across the history of jewelry, the world of gemstones and the techniques that shape a piece. Among the first is The Art of Enameling, led by jeweler Noural Al Serkal and art historian May El Hage, a close look at the patient, exacting craft that has punctuated jewelry history in transparent, translucent and opaque colour.
The Podcast
Ten Minutes on the History of Gold
For the first time, L’ÉCOLE also brings its podcast, Voice of Jewels, into Arabic, with three episodes. Each is a ten-minute passage through the history of gold across centuries and cultures, made for listening on the move and written for a regional audience.
A School That Travels
Sharing Jewelry Culture, Not Guarding It
L’ÉCOLE was founded in 2012 with the support of Van Cleef & Arpels, and now keeps permanent addresses in Paris, Hong Kong, Shanghai and Dubai, where its Middle Eastern campus opened at Dubai Design District in 2024. A dedicated Arabic program reads as a natural next chapter for a school built to share jewelry culture rather than keep it at a distance.
“The introduction of a variety of educational activities in Arabic is a crucial step in deepening our exchange with local audiences on the world of gemstones, the history and savoir-faire of jewelry, and a testament to embracing our regional cultural identity.”
Sophie Claudel, Director of L’ÉCOLE, School of Jewelry Arts
For Boujeez
There is a quiet significance in a house of this pedigree choosing to teach in Arabic rather than simply translate a brochure. Luxury, at its most credible, does not only sell to a region, it learns its language and invests in its understanding. When the vocabulary of gemstones and savoir-faire is offered in Arabic, jewelry culture stops being something admired from afar and becomes something the Gulf can claim as its own.