SCHMIT - Tradition et innovation depuis 1818

The heritage
The values

The projects
The customers

To contact us
To find us

Heritage and values: 2 centuries of history

Art heritage

Focused on the creation of unique spaces, Schmit Tradition has been able to combine its experience in arts and crafts with highly-specialised technological knowledge, thus promoting the values of tradition and innovation from a company with a unique know-how, for almost 200 years:

1818:Maison Schmit created by Frédéric Schmit who came originally from Luxembourg. Maison Schmit was a pioneer in the "stylish", luxury furniture and general fittings sector (most often for castles and boats);

1828:Maison Schmit set up its workshops at 22 rue de Charonne in Paris and developed its activity manufacturing furniture, fittings, joinery, decorations, shop fixtures, tapestries, etc.
During the second French Empire, the company became Schmit & Piollet in 1874 (partnering with the cabinet maker of Napoleon III), and saw monumental development, bringing together a team of decorators, cabinet makers, sculptors, weavers, joiners specializing in chairs, and bronze workers. It had a global influence and won several awards throughout the world at all exhibitions;

1878 and 1889: Expositions Universelles in Paris: Schmit won a gold medal during this event;

1900: Activity expanded to fitting out Department Stores,

1919: The company Schmit et Cie was run by two brothers, Jacques and Jean Schmit;

1935: Several naval productions, including among other things, the lounges and cabins of the liner "Normandie", marking the high point for this activity;

1939: Part of the workshops decentralized to Laugère in the Cher (in a former tile factory) at the instigation of the [French] Ministry for National Defence,

1948: Move to the Saint Maur factory. Jacques and Robert Schmit set up their head office at 396 rue St Honoré. Activity was strongly developed, with the construction of several prestigious projects: The Bank of France, the Paris Opera, Orly airport, and numerous worksites fitting out the Tours de la Défense and the Tour Maine-Montparnasse, etc.

1962: Split between Robert and Jacques Schmit. The latter set up his head office at 276 boulevard Saint Germain (Ets Jacques Schmit boasted a workforce of over 200 people at that time), until his death in 1973, when all the services were then grouped together at St Maur;

1980: Creation of Jacques Schmit SA, with Mr Joseph Renard as its chairman;

1987- 1988: several flagship projects: fitting out the head office of the Compagnie Financière du C.I.C., the Sumitomo Bank in Paris, the CommerzBank, the SHEARSON & LEHMAN Brothers Bank (all trades and professions), the L'OREAL head office in Clichy and the Christian DIOR premises in avenue Montaigne (fittings and cabinet work);

1990: Creation of Schmit Tradition.

Schmit Tradition assists the best luxury brands in the design and manufacture of their sales areas and their made-to-measure furnishings, from the most complex to the most prestigious.
Our teams accompany the greatest and most creative architects in France and abroad. A multi-cultural dimension with projects carried out in the biggest capitals: Paris, London, Berlin, New York, Hong Kong, etc.
The secret of Maison Schmit's long life is in always having known, since 1818, how to anticipate needs and changes, particularly in the world of luxuries, and to be constantly proactive with regard to its clients.

The team

Passion in the service of art, mastery of service actions for major projects.

Above all, Schmit Tradition equates to people focussed on excellence. A team made up of experts, engineers, craftsmen, designers and graduates of the Ecole Boulle, each person paying specific attention to:

- the materials and their use,
- the methodology, coordination and implementation of projects.
- compliance with the rules, regulations, lead times, schedules and budgets.

The locations

3 centres, one dedicated team, for a multidisciplinary approach

1/ The design office: The starting point for all creations and productions, the keystone of your success.
Our teams will interpret your request, analyse your requirements and achieve your ambitions. A veritable think tank, this exchange forum will be able to refine your project while respecting your aesthetic considerations, your budget and the technical and structural restrictions.

2/ The integrated prototyping workshop for initiating discussions and construction, and for validating the bias in order to move from idea to reality.

3/ The in-house manufacturing plant, located in Laugére, with some thirty master cabinet makers who are as skilled as they are passionate.

In brief, Schmit Tradition is the accumulation of IN-HOUSE skills, expertise and production, equating to full control, for TOTAL MASTERY over designs, techniques, details, lead times and costs.

The values

Make your project a case for French-style excellence.

In a time of globalization, mass production and excessive industrialisation, Schmit Tradition is continuing and flying the flag for the French-style values that dreams are still made of:
Arts and crafts, prestige, excellence, craftsmanship, the “French touch”, the art of living and French-style luxury: a love of work well done, achieved in accordance with the rules.
Prestigious spaces created using luxury materials.