Jaime Hayon's sketches for Baccarat

words by Chantal Granier for Baccarat

In Jaime, you can almost hear the word “gem.” And that’s a good way to characterize artist and designer Jaime Hayon.  Half-conquistador, half-imp, this adventurer of design embraces life with an extraordinary creative zest, an immediate empathy for his nearest and dearest, and an infectious vitality. Skipping from one language to another in a heartbeat, he simultaneously chats in English as well as French, Italian and Spanish, all with a singular nonchalance and ease.

Jaime is a man of the present and the future, a decidedly optimisticmutant, equipped for a world with a brighter tomorrow.

Born in Madrid thirty years ago, this Almodσvar of design is on a ceaseless quest for encounters and new lands. The paradox arises from the overlap of this free-wheeling spirit and his inspirations, drawn entirely from the sensuality of his background: fragrances, sounds, languages, visions of childhood and his Iberian roots.

The primary colors, the excess, the organic baroque shapes of the furniture and ceramics, the manga-meets-Iberia “toys”: his imagination flows as freely as a stream from the tip of a colored pencil or brush with the talent of a master draftsman.

Jaime Hayon is a generous artist, and his work distills everything that has crossed his path. Like an ethnologist of shape and material, he explores nature and people in equal measure, transforming them though the prism of his unbridled flights of creativity—his free spirit radiatesmost brilliantly in the scenographies that fully express his exuberance and joie de vivre.

The recentmonograph on his work, published byGestalfen, captures the full range of his prolific and eclectic work.

Form, style and color are deployed with a raremastery, whether in his partnerships with companies as diverse as Arquitect, Bisazza, Camper, Bosa, Metalarte, Palluco or Bernhardt Design, with the collaboration of his companion, Nienke Klunder. His “Rencontre” with Baccarat is typical of this atypical talent. This masterful stylistic undertaking between colored cut crystal or pieces engraved with gold and metallic ceramics successfully bridges the gap between sumptuous transparency and velvety opaqueness.Hayon’s sense of humor reframes the importance of his creation in a limited edition of monumental works. The “Crystal Candy Set” can be enjoyed to excess; with this exceptionally beautiful work, Baccarat once again demonstrates its extraordinary creativity.

The collection, a subtle alliance of crystal and ceramic, is created in the cold workshop...

Jelly Copper
Clear crystal and copper ceramic
H 36 cm x L 33,2 cm
H 14 1/4” x W 13 1/8”
2 604 216
Numbered and limited edition of 25

BonBon Treasure
Clear crystal
H 62 cm x L 22 cm
H 243/8” x W 85/8”
2 604 215
Numbered and limited edition of 25

Nuclear Pomegranate
Red crystal and white copper ceramic
H 39,5 cm x L 22 cm
H 151/2” x W 85/8”
2 604 214
Numbered and limited edition of 25

Blackberry Freeze
Clear and amethyst crystal
H 38,3 cm x L 22 cm
H 151/8” x W 85/8”
2 604 213
Numbered and limited edition of 25

Lucky Green
Green crystal and copper ceramic
H 38,6 cm x L 22 cm
H 151/8” x W 85/8”
2 604 212
Numbered and limited edition of 25

Piña Passion Vase
Clear crystal and white copper ceramic
H 56 cm x L 22,7cm
H 22” x W 87/8”
2 604 211
Numbered and limited edition of 25

Red Passion Golf
Clear and red crystal
H 41,6 cm x L 22 cm
H 161/8” x W 85/8”
2 604 210
Numbered and limited edition of 25

Harcourt Lolly
Clear crystal
H 47,6 cm x L 16,4 cm
H 183/4” x W 61/2”
2 604 209
Numbered and limited edition of 25

After Nine
Clear, amethyst and olive green crystal
H 55,2 cm x L 22 cm
H 21 5/8” x W 8 5/8”
2 604 208
Numbered and limited edition of 25

The collection, a subtle alliance of crystal and ceramic, is created in the cold workshop...

Jaime Hayon's sketches for Baccarat

photo © Nienke Klunder

photo © Nienke Klunder

photo © Nienke Klunder

images from Crystal Candy Set's presentation / photo © Nienke Klunder