Hugues Pouget & Lorenz Bäumer: a pastry chef, a jeweller, a Christmas collab

Hugues Pouget and Lorenz Bäumer have combined their artistic vision to create a colorful Christmas collection of luxury and voluptuousness. The meeting became a collaboration for a Christmas collection in homage to Place Vendôme, Paris. A lovely way to express your affection for those you love.

How did the two of you meet?

Hugues Pouget: In a friendly atmosphere, we met around shared passions: nature and gastronomy. We both work with materials to make them sublime, and our common thread is the same desire to please our customers.

Lorenz Bäumer: We have a lot in common: spirits, the good and the beautiful. I'm driven by the values of sharing and friendship, which I like to convey through my jewelry. With patisserie, it's the same thing: we try to make 1+1 much more than 2. What we have in common is working with the best that nature has to offer, and sublimating it with our know-how, experience and creativity to create something unforgettable.

How did you go about this collaboration?

H.P. : For this collection, we wanted to rediscover the French codes of art and craftsmanship, which is how we came up with the idea of the Vendôme column for the log and Marie-Amélie Tek's poetic, spontaneous watercolors for the packaging. We also came up with an original whisky ganache, another of Lorenz's passions. It all came together in a pleasant and generous ping pong. We exchanged ideas very freely during the tastings.

L.B.: It was a mutual invitation. I invited him into the world of jewelry by sharing ideas, designs, diamond shapes, the Place Vendôme, and some of our customs. He introduced me to his world, explaining in particular his work on chords. It was a natural progression. I gave him one of my bottles of Benjamin Kuentz French whisky to make the chocolate and whisky ganache, and we exchanged flavors to achieve the perfect balance. Similarly, for the diamond-shaped galette, I imagined a tiara by playing with the colored diamonds and their weight. It's funny to think that the crown of kings is a Place Vendôme tiara!

Collaboration: freedom or constraint?

H.P.: Great freedom! Collaborations are a fabulous field for artistic expression, a meeting of minds based on a shared artistic sensibility. It's never a constraint for me.

L.B.: My profession is driven by constraints. If there are no constraints, there are no creations. In jewelry-making, I love to work within this framework; it's what makes creation interesting and fun. This is the case with the whisky ganache, for which it took several tries to find the right balance.

What did you gain from this collaboration?

H.P.: Merging our creative worlds with those of our customers is mutually enriching. We were immediately able to identify with each other's worlds and the mood we wanted to give to our homes and our creations. Even our vocabulary is common, as you only have to look at the Lorenz, Gourmandise, Cocktail or Olfactive collections to understand. Our paths were made to cross.

L.B.: I love to welcome my guests and make them feel at home in my world. I've always offered my customers a glass of whisky from my private collection and a chocolate, because the world of gourmet food is part of my universe. I pay particular attention to every detail, from the background music to the seating. I do everything to make people feel at home. This collaboration is a continuation of my approach.