Jean Rousseau sets up its workshop at the heart of Samaritaine Paris
"You can find everything at Samaritaine" is the motto of the most famous department store in Paris. Everything? Or better than everything, since a Jean Rousseau workshop is now offering its exclusive craftsmanship, at the heart of the watchmaking area of the prestigious store on the banks of the Pont-Neuf.
Since December 2023 – just in time for fully customized Christmas gifts – the Jean Rousseau corner of Samaritaine Paris is offering a wide choice of ready-to-wear watch straps in hundreds of combinations of shape, leather and colour, as well as exceptional leather goods.
A Jean Rousseau craftsman will also be available at all times to design a custom strap to suit your watch and your tastes, from the classic elegance of alligator leather to the latest innovations in technical textiles, or to customize existing items, with improvements such as the embossing your initials.
Bespoke straps and leatherwork
As soon as Samaritaine Paris reopened its doors in June 2021 after a major renovation, Jean Rousseau presented a choice of watch straps and leather goods. “Today, with the opening of the mini-workshop, we are offering a direct and privileged relationship with our craftsmen that goes far beyond simply choosing a style,” says Anaïs Bordier, brand manager at the Jean Rousseau manufacture.
Bespoke orders are made on site whenever possible, or alternatively at Jean Rousseau’s rue Duphot workshop in Paris or at the Manufacture in Franche-Comté. In the purest Made in France tradition of the House, visitors to Samaritaine Paris can experience the privileged relationship that Jean Rousseau has offered its customers since the House was founded in 1954.
A jewel of Art Nouveau architecture
“We’re delighted to be setting up our workshop in Paris’s finest department stores,” says Anaïs. The little shop founded by Ernest and Marie-Louise Cognacq-Jaÿ in 1870 on the banks of the Pont-Neuf, became over the years a masterpiece of Art Nouveau architecture, welcoming thousands of customers in a setting of ironwork and frescoes, such as the emblematic Peacock Fresco of 1907.
Closed in 2005 for safety reasons, the department stores’ triumphantly reopened in 2021 in a restored space, enhanced by a contemporary structure. Jean Rousseau proudly takes its place at the heart of a watchmaking space that welcomes the greatest international brands, while giving pride of place to made in France craftsmanship.