About Laurent-Max De Cock

I have been working with jewellery for most of my life.

My path did not begin with teaching. It began with learning, making and discovering the discipline of the craft for myself.

My first academic education was in painting, followed by goldsmithing at the Academy in Antwerp. Although I eventually devoted myself to jewellery, my education in painting has remained an important influence on the way I work. Colour has always fascinated me, and I have continued to look for ways in which colour, form and material can become part of a piece of jewellery.

After my studies, on the recommendation of my professor Wim Ibens, I began working in a jewellery company. This was an important step in my development as a designer, because it brought me into the reality of making jewellery on a professional level.

I had the opportunity to learn from people with considerable practical experience and, over the years, to develop my own understanding of techniques, materials and production.

Quite naturally, I also began helping and training young people who were starting their careers in the company.

I discovered that I enjoyed explaining how things could be made.

More importantly, I discovered that I did not want knowledge to remain something that one kept for oneself.

For me, knowledge became more valuable when it could be shared.

The response I received from young colleagues confirmed that this was something I wanted to continue.

From practice to teaching

Eventually, Wim Ibens asked whether I would consider continuing this work at the Academy of Antwerp.

He was concerned that students sometimes had too little time to develop the technical knowledge necessary to give strength to their designs. Design and technique should not exist separately. An idea becomes stronger when the designer understands what the material and the craft can make possible.

For me, this was a natural continuation of what I had already been doing.

I brought with me not only my academic education, but also many years of direct experience in the professional manufacture of jewellery. This practical experience became an important part of my teaching.

I have always believed that students should have the opportunity to understand both sides: how to think as a designer and how to make their ideas work in reality.

Colour, materials and the discovery of titanium

My interest in materials has always been closely connected to my interest in colour.

Already in the early 1980s, I became increasingly fascinated by titanium. Its particular qualities, and especially the possibilities of creating colour on its surface, opened up a completely different field of experimentation for me.

But working with titanium also meant that many of the traditional techniques of goldsmithing were no longer applicable. Titanium cannot simply be soldered in the way that precious metals can.

This meant finding other solutions.

I began developing and experimenting with cold connections and other ways of constructing jewellery without relying on traditional soldering techniques.

What initially appeared to be a technical limitation became an opportunity.

It forced me to look differently at construction, at the relationship between individual elements and at the possibilities of the material itself.

This way of working — encountering a limitation and becoming curious about what can be done differently — has remained an important part of my approach to jewellery.

From Antwerp to the wider world

This combination of design, craftsmanship and teaching gradually opened other doors.

Through my activities with the HRD in Antwerp, I became involved in international exchanges, first in Taiwan and later in China.

What began as professional activity developed into something much broader.

I was invited to give lectures, organise and teach workshops, participate in exhibitions and exchange ideas with students, teachers and designers.

And the more I travelled and met people from different cultures, the stronger my curiosity became.

China — since 2003

Since 2003, China has been an important part of this journey.

Over more than two decades I have returned many times, working with academies, universities, designers and students through jewellery design, teaching and cultural exchange.

I have had the honour of being appointed Honorary Professor at the Beijing Institute of Fashion Technology and at Nanjing Academy.

But my relationship with China has never been simply about bringing my own knowledge there.

Exchange means that both sides learn.

I have shared what I have learned through my own experience, but I have also learned enormously from the people I have met, from their culture, their approach to design and their way of looking at jewellery.

That continuous exchange has influenced me as much as any individual project.

What remains important to me

Over the years, my work has taken many different forms: jewellery design, material research, teaching, workshops, lectures, exhibitions and international collaborations.

But underneath all of these activities there has been a common thread.

Curiosity.

Curiosity about materials and techniques.

Curiosity about how an idea can become an object.

Curiosity about how other people think and work.

And curiosity about what the next generation will do with the knowledge and possibilities that are available to them.

This is also why I remain involved in international initiatives for young jewellery designers. I participate in juries and help organise competitions that give young designers the opportunity to present their ideas, meet other designers and become part of an international community.

The MIC Creative Masters International Jewelry Design Competition in Shenzhen is one example of this continuing involvement. New international initiatives are also being developed, including a new competition planned for 2027.

I do not see these activities as something separate from my own work.

They are simply another way of continuing the same process that began when I first started helping young people in a jewellery workshop many years ago.

I have never felt the need to prove that I am the biggest or the best.

Such comparisons have never been what motivates me. There are many designers whose work I admire and consider exceptional.

My work can speak for itself.

My work has no commercial purpose

The Freedom of the Personal Jewel

My jewellery collections emerge from a personal artistic investigation. They are neither a response to commercial demand nor an attempt to meet the expectations or desires of others. For me, it is essential to preserve complete freedom throughout my design process, without making concessions that might influence my personal vision or limit my further development.

I want to be free to explore, experiment and evolve from an inner necessity, without allowing the direction of my work to be determined by what others would like to see or wear. It is precisely this independence that allows me to gain new insights and continue developing my own visual language.

This does not mean that my jewellery exists independently of the act of wearing it. On the contrary, my pieces are created to be worn and can, of course, be acquired when someone feels genuinely drawn to them. For me, the distinction lies in the starting point: my designs are not dictated by a demand for jewellery; rather, each piece emerges from my personal exploration.

My website is therefore not a sales platform, but a window into my artistic journey. It documents the evolution of my thinking and design, the different paths I have explored, and the personal convictions that shape my work. I see it as a record of an ongoing process, in which each piece occupies its own place and contributes to my continued development as a designer.

For me, the freedom of being a designer lies precisely in the ability to follow my own path, without allowing the expectations of others to determine its direction.

This has always been my way of working, and it is a freedom I feel entirely comfortable with. No one determines what I should design. That remains my personal choice, guided by my own convictions and my desire to keep exploring, evolving and creating on my own terms.

 

It is a place where I can bring together the different parts of my journey: the jewellery and objects I have created, my experiments with materials and techniques, my teaching, my exhibitions, my international experiences and the people with whom I have had the privilege to exchange knowledge.

My complete curriculum vitae is available for those who wish to follow the details of my professional path.

But a CV tells you what someone has done.

It does not necessarily tell you what drives them.

Perhaps the simplest answer is that I remain curious.

And as long as that curiosity remains, I will continue to learn, to share, to exchange ideas and to make room for others to discover their own possibilities.