Oscar Massin

Oscar Massin (1829–1913) was a Belgian-born French jeweler known as “The Diamond Reformer,"[1] who created some of the 19th century's most influential and innovative fine jewelry that radically redefined a new era for the industry at large.

Massin went on to work for Théodore Viette—a renowned workshop of manufacturing jewelers—who had been commissioned by Napoleon III to design a tiara for Empress Eugènie of France.

Massin considered progress a more noble cause than personal gain, never using his patents against copyists; he exhibited unfinished or deconstructed jewels solely for teaching purposes.

And, in response to low payment in the trade, he set a new precedent for better living standards for all craftsmen, exhibiting his remarkable generosity of time, ideas, and support for both his community and a new generation of future artists and designers.

For more than two decades Massin continued to design and create for prominent jewelers, including Baugrand, Fontana, Sandoz and Rouvenat, Boucheron, Mellerio, Chaumet, and Tiffany.