Robert Goossens was born in 1927, in Paris, France and died on January 7, 2016.

He was a French jeweler.

He was the son of a metal foundry worker.

During his younger years, Robert participated in an apprenticeship in jewelry making, perfecting the techniques of casting, engraving, and embossing semi-precious and simulated stones into gold and silver metals.

Throughout his career of creating fine jewelry, Robert mixed the genuine stones with the fakes, a blend of the artificial gems with the semi-precious for clients including Coco Chanel, Cristóbal Balenciaga, Yves Saint Laurent, Madame Gres and Christian Dior.

His designs were highly influenced by paintings and artifacts in Paris museums, with inspiration most often taken from Maltese, Byzantium, and Renaissance works.

Robert has traveled extensively, frequently bringing back stones including sapphires, amethysts, rubies, coral, and chalcedony.

Rock Crystal, the clear and colorless variety of quartz, was his favorite medium and he was the first to set it into pieces of jewelry as he sensed that its delicate and inexpensive attributes were well suited to costume jewelry.

Robert also used bronze, shells, pearls, colored and natural rock crystal in his necklace, brooch, bracelet and earring designs.

Robert Goossens worked with Coco Chanel to design jewelry to accompany her fashion designs, mostly through presentations where she would guide his inspiration.

Chanel’s and Robert Goossens creations were of similar taste.

Working with silver and gold plated pins set with emeralds, moon earth pendants, and crystal Byzantine crosses.

Robert has created original pieces for Mademoiselle Chanel made of real gold and genuine stones, which in turn were copied as imitations designed for fashion shows and presentations.

In the end, these models ultimately served as the basis for Chanel’s costume jewelry designs.

He continued his work with the house of Chanel after its founder’s passing and collaborated with her successor Karl Lagerfeld throughout the 1980s and 1990s to create costume jewelry for Chanel’s ready-to-wear and couture collections.

In 2005, Chanel bought Roberts’ company.

His workshop north of Paris still operates to this day, employing some fifty people to handcraft his designs.

Robert Goossens Showroom is in Avenue George V, one of the most fashionable streets in Paris.

Robert Goossens passed away at 88 yrs old.