Born into a family of Parisian industrialists specializing in precious metal work, Charles Christofle was 15 years old when he began an apprenticeship with his brother-in-law Hugues Calmette, a manufacturer of "provincial jewelry.

In 1830, he took over the family business and in 1832 registered his master's mark at the Paris Guarantee Office to manufacture gold jewelry.

When Charles Christofle died, his son Paul (1838-1907) and his nephew Henri Bouilhet (1830-1910) succeeded him and continued to develop the company.

Thanks to the development of new techniques (massive electroplating, enamels, patinas, natural impressions) and the opening of new factories (Saint-Denis and Karlsruhe), Christofle became one of the major goldsmiths of the century.

Since its foundation, Christofle has combined an internal creative team with external designers: The production of the pieces uses classical manufacturing techniques: shaping, hammering, turning, embossing, chasing and engraving for the finishing; patinas, enamels, cloisonne and lacquers for the colors, and die-cutting for the cutlery.

In 1842, Charles Christofle began to exploit for France the patents of the Englishmen Henry and Georges-Richard Elkington of Birmingham concerning a process of electrolytic gilding and silvering.

This process, which he combined with the patent of the French chemist Count Henri de Ruolz, and in 1851 with that of Etienne Lenoir, enabled Christofle to develop the technique of plating objects.

Due to his success, he founded the company "Charles Christofle & Cie" in 1845 and started to manufacture silverware in 1846, thus becoming independent from other goldsmiths.

The purchase of the patents for electrolytic silvering and gilding in 1842, allows him to abandon the jewelry business in favor of the manufacture of goldsmith's and silversmith's wares from 1844.

The factory manufactured mainly large goldsmiths' wares, silvered and gilded all the company's French production and produced massive electroplating, a technique perfected by Henri Bouilhet from 1853.

The construction of Saint-Denis meets three needs of the company: to make nickel metallurgy, to manufacture its own cutlery, and to compensate for the small size of the rue de Bondy.

It was built after Christofle had signed exclusive agreements with the Société Foncière Calédonienne, which was exploiting the Caledonian nickel deposits discovered by the Garnier brothers.

The discovery of the deposits and the chemical refining process, practiced exclusively by Christofle, considerably lowered the cost of this metal, which was essential for the manufacture of silverware.

For a little over 10 years, Saint-Denis was the only factory to refine nickel using this process, which was awarded a grand prize at the Paris World Fair in 1878.

With the departure of the manufacture of cutlery in 1971 to the new factory in Yainville, the large goldsmith's workshop was reorganized (installation of presses and development of mechanical polishing).

As large as Saint-Denis, with 150 people working there in 1900, it supplied Christofle's silverware to Eastern Europe for 50 years (Germany, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Poland, the Balkans, Russia, etc.).

Threatened by a hostile takeover bid from one of his shareholders, the Taittinger group, Albert Bouilhet asked his cousin, the Italian Maurizio Borletti, for help.

To overcome these difficulties, which have been encountered by other players in the tableware sector, the group was thinking of taking the advice given by McKinsey, by diversifying its activities and refocusing its stores on the best locations.