Victor Gastou, son of late gallerist, collector and art dealer Yves Gastou walks through the halls of L’ÉCOLE, School of Jewelry Arts with pride as he opens the doors to a six-month exhibition featuring his father’s astounding collection of over 700 men’s rings.
Gastou, now a design dealer and ‘treasure hunter,’ is carrying forward his father’s legacy. As he travels the world, he shares what was once his father’s passion and is now his own, honouring an intricately curated collection gathered for over 40 years from around the world.
“Yes, this story is about rings but also passion,” Gastou fondly said in an exclusive interview with Arabian Business.
The Yves Gastou Collection of Men’s Rings remained private until its debut in 2018 at L’École in Paris. Since then, this extensive collection has travelled globally and now has a temporary home in Dubai at L’ÉCOLE, School of Jewelry Arts, where it will be on display until April 26, 2025.
“I did not expect so much interest in the collection. Everyone who sees the collection are amazed. It might not be the most precious or historical one, and there aren’t the most incredible pieces, but there is a soul in this collection which is quite unique,” Gastou said.
In an exclusive preview, Arabian Business entered the world of Yves Gastou and his global expedition to collect some of the most unique rings sourced from destinations including Mali, France, Italy and many more.
The rings are divided into five themes based on Yves’ personal taste: History, Gothic, Christian Mysticism, Vanitas and Eclecticism.
Part of the history collection are the 17th century Venetian Doge rings which feature a compartment that was used to store poison for enemies in historical times. The poison ring was used to slip poison into an enemy’s food or drink.
Flea market find turns rare black diamond
Victor with a wave of nostalgia shared the story of one of his father’s signature rings that he wore every day, one that was spotted at a flea market and turned out to feature a rare black diamond. This ring is now on display at the exhibition for visitors to see.
“There is one ring that Yves used to wear all the time, the skull with a diamond in its mouth and this is really an iconic piece because every morning when he used to wake up, he used to put on his ring first. This was his memento, his favourite one,” he said.
He believes that this ring was so prominent to his father’s personality, “when you wear the same thing every time, it becomes a part of yourself.”
He went on to explain the journey that Yves went on to acquire this ring, highlighting his eye for all things extraordinary.
“The story about the ring is quite funny actually, he went to a flea market and bought it for less than EUR100 because people didn’t know what they had. He then tested the stone and found out it was a black diamond.”
“He was so excited to find it and then we searched for the artist and found him, he ordered with him again,” Victor explained.
Yves signature rings were in gold and white gold, designed by Dutch artist Andre Lassen, he alternated between his white gold and yellow gold rings throughout the day. They were the first things he put on each morning.
Gastou reminisces that the ring discarded in a flea market “was such a banana ring, it was nothing but he [Yves] thought there was something behind it and it was not just a typical object but something more.”
It all started with ‘just one ring’
Now the driving force behind exhibiting Yves’ collection around the world, Victor started out dismissing his father’s passion as a young teenager.
“At the beginning when I was a teenager, I didn’t want to wear these [the rings] in front of my friends but eventually I took an interest and I thought it was really cool,” he admitted.
“I started with just one ring and then I put the second one and then the third one and so on,” he said, stroking the three rings that he was wearing.
He proceeded to take them off to explain the detailing and history behind the rings, one of the pieces had an intricate Vatican stamp on the back taking him back to one of his first memories of being introduced to Yves’ passion.
“I remember the first time that he shared men’s rings with me when he went to Millario dits Meller and there was a decree called the Vatican II in the church. They [The Vatican] changed the way of presenting to the people, the time of gold and luxury was over and they wanted to have a message of more humility,” he explained.
“The era of golden rings was over and Millario dits Meller was the official maker of such kind of rings and because of Vatican II, the market was over. Nobody wanted gold anymore and that’s when he [Yves] had the opportunity to go to Millario dits Meller and buy the old stock. That’s when he had the chance to buy the most incredible pieces because no one wanted them anymore. That was one of my first memories,” Victor reminisced.
Interestingly, alongside rings with rich histories and crafted from precious metals, many pieces in the exhibition were collected simply for their design and details, some acquired for as little as EUR 10-15.
“Usually people collect it from the top, they just look at the best pieces but in this collection there are also useless pieces like rings of 10-15 euros with no precious metal but it’s interesting because of its sculpture or scene. There’s always something interesting and that’s what makes the collection very different,” Victor said.
It was clear that the life of the collection came not from the value of the materials used but the ‘passion’ that built the collection from 1-1000 rings.
“To have a passion, to have a goal when you are searching for something, there is a pleasure to search, a pleasure to find and a pleasure to share. It could be a ring, a bracelet or anything but you know it is something that makes your life different because of that passion to share,” he said.
‘The hand of mankind is what makes the difference between animals and man’
Victor believes that “rings are beautiful,” and that they are a “special object with a lot of strands.”
“For instance, it’s the idea of the link between people when you get married or engaged.”
“Even with humanity, this is the oldest decoration of mankind before having a consciousness of themselves, they used to decorate their hands with the bones of animals and I think that it’s something very special,” he said exuberating a strong passion for the piece of jewellery.
Victor explains wearing rings as a ‘sensual’ feeling, he believes that it is the hands that separates mankind from animals.
“The hand is also very sensitive because you always touch your rings and it is very sensual when you feel them and you know it’s something that you have every day on your hands. I believe the hand of mankind is what makes the difference between animals and man because what civilisation is now is because of the ability to build, to use tools,” he said.
The hands can tell personalities and that’s why the rings are so connected to it, Victor said, “When you do a handshake, you already know the personality of people, if you see that they have broken nails or if they are stressed, you know through the hands, it gives a lot of information.”
Does Donald Trump wear a ring?
Looking ahead, he aspires to exhibit his father’s collection in America “because a huge part of the collection is about biker rings and American rings.”
“I think it would make a lot of sense to present it to the American people,” he said.
“Because also in Yves’ generation in the 70s, America was a great America and he’s been dreaming in front of Easy Rider, all the movie stars, Hollywood and the music. I think he would like for the collection to go here,” Victor added.
For those who aspire to start a collection, he advises to “just start. Be passionate. Share it.”
“It can be whatever you want to do but do it with a fire in your eyes,” he said.
Wrapping up with a nod to his fascination with American culture, Victor said, “Does Donald Trump wear a ring? I think he does. I would like to get my hands on Trump’s ring.”
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