Murelli, France’s Last Guillocheurs

Whatever you do, don’t tell Marc Murelli, the late founder’s eldest son and head of the company since 1995, that he “engraves” pens, lighters and other luxury goods. Établissements Murelli, a “living heritage company” since 2012, is the last business in France to practise the complex, refined art of guillochage. This unique ornamentation technique involves decorating items by removing material by turning or mechanically to finely work matte surfaces (in brass, lacquer, gold, silver, etc.) with various patterns, such as clous de Paris , chequerboards, sparks, basket weaves and waves. Around 1786, the famous watchmaker Breguet wanted to enhance his solid gold and silver watch faces with different motifs to give them more relief. To do that, he opted for a process that consisted of…