Carlos Soler Cabot is the great-grandson of the jeweler Joaquim Cabot, also a precursor of the Palau de la Música and of multiple urban initiatives in Barcelona at the end of the 19th century and beginning of the 20th. He also leads the continuity of the jewelry business (Soler Cabot, in Sant Gregori Taumaturg square), following in the footsteps of its founder and adapting it to current times.
They strive not to lose at any time the refinement of style, the sensitivity in attitude, or the commitment to the city. Concerned about Barcelona, he believes that entrepreneurs must build it with a sense of general interest, but without accepting that the public sector has to take care of everything. In fact, if it had been up to the City Council or the administrations of the time, the Palau de la Música would never have existed. The Cabot jewelry store, of course, neither.
--- Who are you and what are you doing in Barcelona?
--- We are a jewelry store with a historical trajectory in Barcelona, both socially and professionally. The family started in Sant Andreu de Llavaneres, but Francesc Cabot i Ferrer founded the first jewelry store in Barcelona in 1842, on Argenteria street.
--- So the theme was mostly religious back then…
--- Yes, for a few years he worked alone and made many religious jewels (he made the chalice of Pius II, monstrances that are now in Montevideo, pieces that are in Mexico, pieces for the Virgin of Montserrat…). Sometimes we have been called from New York saying that they have a piece signed by us, because all those pieces were signed and stamped by the jewelry store.
--- And then Joaquim arrives.
--- Francesc Cabot's sons, Emili and Joaquim, dedicated themselves a lot to jewelry. And Joaquim, at 18, acquired a technique (in addition to others, such as enameling) which is that of the filador, a very refined technique: making gold filigrees. Spinning very fine.
--- Verdaguer even dedicated a poem to him, didn't he?
--- Exactly, El Filador d'or. Amadeu Vives says of him that he is "the jeweler who has spun the most sonorous gold in the world, for it has been converted into music". The fact is that Joaquim was orphaned very young, at 18, and had to enter the workshop as workshop manager. He worked many hours; I think he was a bit obsessive. A bit of an alchemist, too. He began to play with the orfilado technique and refined it.
--- A technique that is still remembered today.
--- It's that none of this is casual, because when we recovered the historical archive, we found all the pieces that were made at that time and that had disappeared. And when we found them, we discussed the technique with international experts. Through my contacts at the Antwerp Diamond Exchange, I spoke with Elkan Wijnberg, who is an international expert, and he told me that the technique he used was absolutely pioneering at that time. So, the best jewelers in the world were European: Mellerio, Cartier, Fabergé… Well, he told me that the technique was exactly the same and, sometimes, even superior. Specifically, he said it was a magical technique. Excellent.
--- And that's when you move from the more religious piece to the civil one, right?
--- Yes, it evolves towards civil art. But the technique, the finishes, what I told you about alchemy, are worthy of a very particular society. Barcelona was then very demanding, high-level, had purchasing power and very good taste. In addition, it was connected with the whole world. Joaquim is in contact with Catalan artists who go to Paris, such as Miquel Blay, Eusebi Arnau, Ramon Casas, Rusiñol… All that, and the fact of being a great traveler, opens doors for you.
--- And who did he have as competition then?
--- Let's say that Cabot's finish was fine pearl, fine diamond, very high-quality emeralds, sapphires cut by himself in the workshop below the jewelry store in Plaza Catalunya… There was also a Masriera style, more enamel, with more vegetal figures or with nymphs. Cabot is closer to Cartier or Chaumet: a type of piece that does not have enamel, but is a piece of diamonds, fine jewelry and precious stones.
--- Have you preserved that style until now in some way? Can it still be identified with you?
--- I love this question, because I always say that jewels have a DNA, they have a soul. And we know how to quickly detect our antique jewels, even if it's a jewel from my grandfather or my great-grandfather: by the quality, the finishes, and sometimes, because they are signed. But even without a signature, the harmony of the piece is clearly visible. We have been learning all of that, like winemakers do, who have a special sense of smell and taste to detect wines. And we have maintained that Cabot spirit a lot: quality and, at the same time, being current. For example, in the era of the happy American years (the 60s-70s) we made more voluminous jewels, with high carat weights. We adapt to trends, but with a quality that keeps fashion at a high level.
--- In Barcelona, it is still difficult to find jewelers that are not franchises or that are genuinely Barcelonian. Do you vindicate that way of making a city?
--- Let's see, what is being a jeweler? Being a jeweler is knowing how to place a diamond, knowing the millimeters a diamond has, knowing what the thickness of a ring should be, how much gold it should carry, how it is drawn, how it is profiled, how it is spun, how a diamond shines on a setting… All of that is being a jeweler. We vindicate the craft of the guilds, which is where we started, on Argenteria street. Starting from the material and turning it into a design, like architects do but in jewel format. Drawing by hand with a pencil, then doing the modeling and then setting everything by hand. We do all of that here in Barcelona, "indoor", like the great houses of France or Italy do. But here the problem is that there are jewelers who only dedicate themselves to taking pieces from different parts of the world and labeling them. That is not being a jeweler, it is being a jewelry seller.
--- Even your ancestor was not limited to being a jeweler, but was socially involved, contributed…
--- All of that is very interesting: documenting ourselves on how the Palau de la Música was built, we realized that he, in addition to personally financing the project, then distributed (among all his clients, friends and personalities of Catalan culture at the time) 2,000 sheets of 100 and 500 pesetas to finance the construction of the Palau. He connected jewelry with cultural initiative. He generated a social and cultural economy that was a brutal success.
--- Do you think that has been lost?
--- I believe that spirit is latent. It is latent and very much alive, but it is camouflaged. Let's see, this city is full of entrepreneurs: merchants, artisans, businessmen. Barcelona has an immense life, but thanks to the effort of the people for many years: no one has given us anything for free.
--- It is often said that emblematic stores in Barcelona struggle to pay rent.
--- They should be cataloged. The trade should be cataloged, guilds should be taken care of, workers, people who contribute wealth and taxes. Not just those who consume them (who evidently deserve the best services). It is very important to promote active participation and entrepreneurship. Only that will make Barcelona return to what it once was: a dynamic city.
--- Have we become complacent?
--- Since the Olympic Games, we have fallen asleep. We have to be entrepreneurs again. That is: what the administration doesn't do, I'll do it. And if the Palau de la Música has to be built, it's built. And if a person succeeds because they are designing fantastic sneakers, then go ahead with Custo Dalmau. It surprises me that he is not a more recognized figure in Barcelona. This profile of people, who are even true artists, are the ones who do things for the city.
--- You have to open up, but with your identity.
--- Exactly. Identity first.
--- Like you, who now have jewelry, but also watch collections... This year, this season, where are you heading?
--- Now we are going towards delicate jewelry, towards Colombian emeralds, Sri Lankan sapphires, Burmese rubies... And diamonds, which we cut with very unique types of cuts.
--- You are the only, or one of the few jewelers in the country that has a delegation in the Antwerp Diamond Exchange. How on earth do you learn to distinguish one diamond from another?
--- I have been lucky enough to be born where I was born, in Barcelona, and into a family with tradition and great seriousness. I think that is the key. If you have rigor and surround yourself with serious people, doors open for you. If you have a treatment... how would I put it? Noble.
--- Good word.
--- Sometimes I review pieces of two, three, or five carats, and among ourselves, we pass them around to know what each one thinks of that diamond. And a Jew, or a Lebanese, or a Belgian, or a Korean asks me what I think of a diamond. When you have touched so much and seen so much, at first glance you can already discard. Then you need a loupe and a special light. That's why I tell you it's like the enologist: trial-and-error and, above all, intuition. But you have to like it, because there are people who spend thirty years looking and see nothing.
--- You spoke of a noble spirit. Is Barcelona more bourgeois than noble, or does it retain some nobility?
--- It has it. Bourgeois or not, the Catalan and Barcelona clientele has a very refined taste. It's what I told you before: Barcelona society is alive, but as if wrapped in fog. We have to help a little to dissipate that fog. We need more daring to live. We have a unique city, with unique buildings, of extreme beauty. We have to appreciate it again. What happens is that people have come who have distorted the film and have only focused on the "wonderful, beautiful," without understanding the meaning of it all.
--- The backroom.
--- Exactly! A way of being and a way of doing. And all that generates a lot of wealth. And we won't return to it until it's understood that a city is built with hands.
--- Artfully.
--- With hands. As it has always been done.