At a special event on 5 June 2025 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, Vacheron Constantin unveiled an 18-month artisan residency, part of the Maison’s 270th anniversary celebrations and the latest chapter in its partnership with The Met, begun two years ago.
The three artisans chosen for this inaugural residency stood apart for their dedication to preserving traditional crafts while pushing the creative limits of their chosen medium, ensuring these time-honoured skills remain resonant today.
Over the course of the programme, they will travel between The Met and Vacheron Constantin’s Geneva headquarters, engaging not only with artworks and timepieces but also with curators, conservators, master watchmakers and craftsmen, each devoted to their own art form.
The aim is to create original works that fuse the artisans’ expertise with insights gained through the residency. In October 2026, the completed pieces will be unveiled at The Met.
THE SELECTION PROCESS
With the intention of making this residency programme as wide-reaching and cross-cultural as possible, Vacheron Constantin and the Met invited artisans from all over the world. The conditions were that they worked in traditional crafts and that they possessed the technical virtuosity, artistic sensibility and innovative approach necessary to translate their speciality into creations of exceptional aesthetic and value.
The three artisans selected for the very first artisan residency by Vacheron Constantin and the Met: Aspen Golann, Ibrahim Said and Joy Harvey.
Applications to the programme were evaluated by a jury composed of curators, art administrators, educators, artisans, and artists. After three rounds of assessment, the finalists emerging from the selection were Aspen Golann (b. USA), furniture maker; Ibrahim Said (b. Egypt), ceramicist; and Joy Harvey (b. Italy), jeweller.
ASPEN GOLANN
US-born Aspen Golann blends traditional 17th–19th century American woodworking techniques with contemporary sculpture and social critique. Trained in historic craft methods, she uses iconic domestic objects to explore power, gender, labour, and cultural memory. Her practice focuses on reclaiming and reinterpreting traditional techniques to question who is remembered, what is preserved, and how craft can be a tool for both resistance and continuity. Through this lens, Golann creates objects that are both deeply informed by history and firmly rooted in the present.
“This residency gives me the rare and meaningful opportunity to create work informed by the artistry of the past, immerse myself in historical processes, and apply that knowledge through a contemporary lens.”
– Aspen Golann
Founder of The Chairmaker’s Toolbox – a project fostering access and equity in the field of chairmaking – Golann channels her passion for sharing knowledge into teaching furniture design at The Rhode Island School of Design and leading craft workshops internationally.
She is very impressed by the philanthropic initiative of Vacheron Constantin and the MET. “These days there are very few institutions or organizations that understand and support the time, commitment, and depth of focus that this type of craftsmanship requires. I’m incredibly grateful to be the recipient of that kind of belief and resourcing. My intention is to devote myself fully to this study – and to teach and share what I learn, in hopes of keeping the lineage of this artisanship alive and evolving.”
IBRAHIM SAID
Recognised for his technical ability, creativity and innovation, ceramic artist Ibrahim Said comes from a family of potters in Fustat, an area in Cairo renowned for ceramics since the Islamic conquest in the 7th century AD. His first teacher – from the age of six – was his father, and Egypt’s rich cultural heritage became his second.
“Clay has been my passion since I can remember,” Said shares. “My father loved the medium and taught me to love it as well, and care for it. He used to say to me, “If you take care of the clay, the clay will take care of you.”
“I believe you can make anything with clay that your imagination can conceive of, if you have the skills.”
– Ibrahim Said
Said’s signature work embodies a lightness and delicacy balanced by the strong lines and bold shapes that distinguished ancient Egyptian ceramics. He pushes the limits of clay, through both structural technique and surface adornment, to create pieces that celebrate his cultural heritage while advancing it towards new horizons.
“I think one’s imagination is limited when one doesn’t understand a material, because then, the challenges presented by that material Is perceived as boundaries and barriers.” After decades, Said has mastered the complexities of working with a material that, as he says, “is weak before it is fired and very fussy if not dried properly, making the kinds of shapes I create very challenging.”
JOY HARVEY
Joy Harvey’s artistic path in jewellery is rooted in a blend of traditional Florentine goldsmithing and Armenian techniques, merging ancient methods with modern innovations, working exclusively with 100 percent fairmined gold and silver and traceable gemstones.
Through the studio she co-founded, La Luce, she has the opportunity to set her creativity free. “I combine the meaning of an art piece with the wearability of jewellery,” she shares. “Each one of my jewels has a meaningful story to tell, from its materials to the metaphors it hides. Each one is made to be worn, cherished, and become a unique custodian of memories and feelings.”
“This residency programme means I have access to otherwise unobtainable knowledge, both through The Met and Vacheron-Constantin’s artisans, which is invaluable education.”
– Joy Harvey
Being one of the first artisans chosen by Vacheron Constantin and the Met for this unique residency programme gives Harvey the opportunity for mentorship from art and crafts experts at the highest level. Furthermore, she is thrilled about the creative opportunity. “The residency gives me the freedom to develop a piece with few strings attached (especially from a commercial standpoint): I can produce something that is entirely my creative expression, with no compromises.”
THE THREE PHASES OF THE PROGRAMME
To make the most of the Vacheron Constantin/Met artisan residency, the finalists will split their time between New York and Geneva, laying the groundwork for the pieces they’ll create during the programme. At The Met, they will draw inspiration from its collections, archives and exhibitions; at Vacheron Constantin, they’ll explore the Maison’s in-house craft traditions, from watchmaking to artistic techniques such as enamelling, guillochage, engraving and gem-setting.
In the next phase, the artisans will develop detailed proposals and budgets for their envisioned works, which aim to balance craft preservation with contemporary innovation. While they will produce their pieces independently, The Met will offer logistical and material support to help realise their projects.
For the final stage, the artisans return to The Met for workshops, public programmes and community events – opportunities to share their creative process and engage with the Museum’s audience.
The programme will culminate in October 2026, when the artisans will present their work at The Met.
Author: Julia Pasarón
Learn more about this philanthropic initiative, HERE.
Photo of Aspen Golann by Chad Weeden
Photo of Joy Harvey by Marco Rossi.
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