For jeweler Dries Criel, his approach to his clientele has always been one of proximity and intimacy, often bringing his designs straight to their hands and homes.

He is now returning their hospitality by throwing open the doors to his universe with a new showroom in the heart of Antwerp’s diamond district.

At 2,100 square feet and with lofty ceilings giving it further volume, the address feels spacious — even for Criel, who deemed it “a bit too big” in conversation. “I rented it focused on growth,” he quips.

That growth isn’t solely in terms of jewelry design and sales. Post-pandemic, he felt a desire to express himself beyond jewelry, given his proclivity for decorating at home.

“It was always something I want to do [and] I felt that my clients, both existing and new ones, felt the need to be part of this story in a different want,” he says. “I felt they really wanted to come towards me and experience the energy around bespoke jewelry in a different way.”

Located on the first floor of a rehabilitated former warehouse once owned by the defunct Staatsspoorwegen railway company, the space is a studio-meets-salon that Criel imagined with Belgian architect Glenn Sestig.

Plus, he had the impression that those with a leaning toward his bold bespoke designs are “less and less interested in a classic retail experience,” he adds.  

By day, it’s the offices where the jeweler and his team work and where clients are welcomed in one-on-one appointments.

By night, Criel entertains guests for intimate dinners — and the occasional artistic performance. Before plying precious stones and metals, pirouettes and pointes were the means of expression for the Belgian.

Cue then a place that isn’t your traditional ground-floor retail concept.

All around are works by Belgian painter and sculptor Renato Nicolodi, juxtaposed with furniture by Ann Demeulemeester, Jorge Zalszupin and Middernacht & Alexander. There are also two originals by American photographer Robert Mapplethorpe.

On the one hand he wants to favor pieces by his Belgian compatriots. On the other, he is “very much addicted to good vintage pieces or good antiques,” a situation only compounded by having an antiques dealer among his best friends.

One recent addition is an 18th century plaster bust of Antinous, a Greek youth who was the lover of the Roman emperor Hadrian. Another is a leatherbound tome with original painted costumes of Léon Bakst, a Russian painter who designed costumes and sets for Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes. He also extols about a recent stone find from a long-closed mine in Belgium.

All these are “small things that only mean something” to him, in his opinion, but he considers them ice breakers. “Especially when you don’t know the potential client, it’s nice to have [items] like that because then you can really take people into your story without — I hope — ever sounding pretentious.”