“Europe really needs social harmony“
First fell in love with a Chinese woman in Paris before becoming passionate about China and its semi-precious stones, Jérémy Guelle is a gemologist graduated from the Paris Gemmology Institute, living in Beijing since 2018. First a musician , this young Parisian, owner with his precious Chinese wife, of a shop in Beijing, describes his eventful journey between France and China, while describing in all sincerity the qualities of each of the two countries.
LHCH: Semi-precious stones, crystals, minerals,… How did this passion for minerals come about?
Jéremy Guelle (J.G): Stones are not a passion born out of my earliest childhood, as is often the case. I discovered crystals and minerals in China 11 years ago! Basically, I am general technical manager at the Paris Conservatory. I was a percussionist, passionate about African and Latin rhythms. It was for my wife that I brought stones. An idea for a job? In the end, I was the one who hung on the most at the start. I got excited and started very serious studies. From a stone lover in China, I became a European expert on the subject.
LHCH: Why was this passion born in China?
J.G: For 5,000 years, the Chinese have been sculpting and drawing stones such as Jade, giving them a symbolic value linked first to myths and then to the wisdoms of the former Middle Kingdom such as Taoism and their Buddhism. So, a stone interests me for its mineral material and structure, but also for its aesthetics and symbolism, in short for its cultural values in ancient China. Modern China does not interest me.
LHCH: For what reasons?
J.G: Today’s China has less charm than “eternal” China. It’s a personal feeling. It bothers me a bit because it looks too much like contemporary Western society. The extraordinary richness of the culture of yesteryear I live it precisely through the stones!
LHCH: Yes, but aren’t there traces of that ancient beauty left today?
J.G: Certainly. In parks, the Chinese place large rocks detached from the bottom of lakes. The designs formed by the relief and veins of these stones awaken the imagination of walkers. A bit like in ancient Chinese paintings of mountains.
LHCH: An art critic says that the modulus and the forms inscribed in these painted mountains are a bit of a representation of the body in Western art.
J.G: Absolutely! So these Chinese stones have impressed me so much that I have traveled back and forth between France and China since 2010. France for fairs and my sales; China for the raw material, my creations and my collaborations with Chinese artisans. It was only since 2018 that my wife and I moved to Beijing. Dong Mei is also from the capital.
LHCH: Who made the decision to take this big leap?
J.G: It was my wife who gave the movement a little. She had been in Paris for 14 years, the date of her first studies in France. His desire to find his native land was very strong.
LHCH: You have been in China for 3 years. How did the covid drama go for you?
J.G: In a surreal way! After Christmas with my two children and Dong Mei, in China, I returned to France for my work. When I wanted to return to China, I was blocked at the border! I stayed 10 months in Paris! I then developed my website for the sale of stones, necklaces and bracelets. I didn’t return to Beijing until November 2020! Then, we created the “physical” store in Beijing, in the Temple of Heaven district. This also allows me to collaborate with an old man from Beijing who works silver jewelry according to the tradition of his city. An exclusivity in Europe!
LHCH: The Palais du Ciel has been a fairly touristic area for years.
J.G: Yes, but with the Covid, there are no more Western tourists. It’s a bit hard for us.
LHCH: Your stone creations are influenced by Buddhism, Taoism, Chinese traditions, but also by more “heavy metal rock” culture. Who is your audience?
J.G: Exactly, rather Western: Europe, the USA, but also Australia, South Africa… The rock culture of bikers and tattoos can also inspire, without lack of taste, my more “Buddhist” creations, for example. But I also assemble more classic jewelry in jewelry, like pendants. On the other hand, I am not involved in lithotherapy which is currently invading the stone market.
LHCH: In terms of “sourcing” stones, China is ideal.
J.G: Yes, it has become the world market for stones, along with Hong Kong as well. Even in Thailand, the traders are Chinese.
“Liberty is not egoism as we often think in France“
LHCH: You are what I personally call a “citizen of Eurasia,” whose life is organized between France and China, even though today you live in China. If you could explain, for yourself, what Europe can bring to China and, conversely, what China can bring to Europe.
J.G: Big question! The French revolution launched progressive ideas which spread throughout Europe and in China too. But, nowadays, for the Chinese, Europe should be a “case study” for the mistakes we have made in the twentieth century: too much production, too much consumption and, therefore, too much pollution. I wouldn’t want China to become like Europe or the USA! Although we have changed a bit. Conversely, China could teach us about its ancestral passion for Social Harmony. In France, we are too individualistic. Freedom is confused with selfishness. We have forgotten that if there are rights, of course, there are also duties … Now for a few days since this small return of the virus, the Chinese have automatically, by themselves, worn the mask in the street! Impossible in France, without pressure from the authorities.
LHCH: Are you a little disappointed with modern China?
J.G: China must do its experiments for itself. We must not lecture him. But, personally, I think she will quickly understand that everything is going too fast here and that the overproduction-overconsumption process is not sustainable in the long term. It has accumulated so much philosophical, cultural and artistic treasures over 5,000 years that it would be a shame to limit herself to the badest sides of Western civilization.
LHCH: There is still the contemplation of natural rocks in the parks, right?
J.G: (laughs) yes, and tea, traditional medicine, museums… despite everything, eternal China is still there. Dong Mei and I live 2 km west of the Forbidden City, in the Shen Wu Men district: we have plenty to recharge our batteries every day. Thanks to my dear Chinese wife, my other precious stone, I don’t have the boring life of an expat!
