Emmanuel Tarpin: Parisian High Jeweller and Environmentalist
Let’s preserve our oceans, our planet.
Emmanuel Tarpin, a Paris-based jeweller who launched his eponymous jewellery brand in 2017 at the age of 25, has been a major player in the world of high jewellery from very early into his career. Inspired by nature, he is known for his “exquisite bijoux that break free from convention with bold silhouettes, layered textures, and unexpected stone compositions.” (Galerie Magazine, 2019) More recently, he has been in the news for his inspiring acts of goodwill—using his work to support the coral reef organisation in French Polynesia.
Reported in the New York Times as his first philanthropic partnership, Emmanuel “has committed to selling several of his one-of-a-kind jewels to support the work of Coral Gardeners, a nongovernmental organization based in Moorea, French Polynesia, whose mission is to create a global movement to save coral reefs. An avid diver, he first heard of the organization from an instructor about a year ago.” (New York Times, 2022)
In a post published to his Instagram account on September 10, 2022, the artist himself announced:
“Thrilled to announce my collaboration with @coralgardeners organization
Nature is my source of inspiration and fighting for its preservation has always been obvious for me.
Spending a month with the team, learning from them and understanding their cause affected me.
I decided to create one of a kind high jewelry pieces inspired by sea world and offer benefits to help them in their actions to replant and rebuild coral reefs.
Let’s preserve our oceans, our planet.” – Emmanuel Tarpin (via Instagram)
True to form, we took a moment to admire some of the universal core competencies we saw on display as we learned of Emmanuel Tarpin and his work this week. Here are three things that came to mind:
Emmanuel Tarpin x Universal Core Competencies
Accurate Listening – One's capacity for exercising a willingness to hear what others are actually saying instead of what one believes others will or should say, or what one believes others may have meant. (The Academic Glossary)
In his announcement (mentioned above), Emmanuel shared that he had taken the time to learn and understand the cause of the Coral Gardners, and that this is what moved him to take action and partner with them to help support the health and preservation of the oceans of the world.
Awareness of Others – One's capacity for seeing beyond one's self to observe and understand the existence, the objective qualities, the needs and the interests of others. (The Academic Glossary)
Most often, we view this universal core competency as something that should be directed towards a person’s awareness of other people. Here though, we see an expanded use case of the term. In order for Emmanuel to see the significance of his participation in this philanthropic partnership, he had to come into the awareness of the objective qualities, the needs and the interests of ocean life, and the health of the world we live in.
It’s one thing to find your source of inspiration. It’s an entirely different thing to build a relationship with that source.
Conceptual Thinking – One's capacity for successfully evaluating abstract and nonlinear ideas, processes and organisations in an accurate and dependable manner. (The Academic Glossary)
Emmanuel Tarpin took his love for creating pieces shaped by inspiration from the world around him – he’s an experienced diver with an affinity for the ocean – and created an opportunity for others to help make a calculable positive change in the world.
As reported in the New York Times, Emmanuel, in partnership with Coral Gardners, will sell “several of his one-of-a-kind jewels,” donating 80% of the proceeds to the organisation to help preserve the oceans. (New York Times, 2022)
At 69 years old, Karen Bass started a new chapter in her life, and the life of the city of Los Angeles, as she assumes the role of the city’s 43rd chief executive. Not only has she made history as the first woman to become mayor in Los Angeles, she is also the second Black person to have ever been elected to this office. In our review of this remarkable feat, we took some time to reflect on a few universal core competencies that Mayor Bass has displayed throughout her career, and that are of high visibility and significance today.