
The manufacturing jewelry firm, Carvin French, was founded in 1954 by two Frenchmen working together in New York. Andre Chervin learned the jewelry trade through a traditional apprenticeship in France and he met up with Serge Carponcy when the two of them worked together at Louis Feron, a manufacturing jeweler. They named their new business Carvin French by combining their names – Car for Carponcy and vin for Chervin plus French for their beloved France.
American jewelers were already mass producing jewelry through casting and other techniques. Both Chervin and Carponcy had classical jewelry training through their apprenticeships in France, therefore they had expertise rarely found in America. In addition, they were master enamelists, a skill also virtually unknown in America. They believed in producing only the finest hand-made jewelry with the best materials available, manufactured in their own workshop thus setting them apart from all the other manufacturing jewelers at that time. Producing extraordinary jewels for only the finest jewelers, their clients include Verdura, Donald Clafin, R. Esmerian, Inc. and Raymond Yard, among others. Eventually diversifying to include fine lapidary work they were able to cut and carve gemstones used by Claflin and Angela Cummings of Tiffany & Co.
Currently, Carvin French is run by Andre Chervin and his nephew Sylvain Chervin and they are located at 515 Madison Avenue, New York, NY.

Maker’s Marks & Timeline
Carvin French
Country | |
---|---|
City | New York NY |
Symbol | animal, cat |
Era | e.1954 |
c.1986: Maker’s Mark “Maxxi” cat went into use
Manufacturing for the Finest Jewelers
- Verdura
- Donald Claflin
- R. Esmerian, Inc.
- Yard
- Pair of French Trained Jewelers who combined their names to become “Carvin French”
- Master enamelists
- Lapidary
Carved Gems for
- Donald Claflin
- Angela Cummings