His obsession with the Mother-of-God-of-Kazan icon came from the disturbing story that his grandfather had told him at the beginning of his early years of initiation to icon restoration.

While many of the faithful were convinced that the holy icon rested in the Cathedral of Our Lady of Kazan in St. Petersburg, his grandfather revealed to him that, in reality, no one knew where the original copy was actually located.

Years after, Sacha has indeed exchanged the art of the icon for the one of jewelry. He had opened his workshop on Daru street and was very happy about it. One night, while he was still working there, Sacha get suddenly a moment of clarity. He ran to the Saint-Alexander Nevsky cathedral and went directly to the copy of Our-Lady-of- Kazan icon restored by his family.

He had a shocking revelation : the mysterious original copy of the sacred icon lay in truth, here! Immediately, the pieces of the puzzle came together and Sacha had a clear vision of the icon's journey from Russia to France. There was no doubt that the miraculous copy had been discreetly assigned to his grandfather, who had secretly become its ultimate guardian.

In order to perpetuate his grandfather's oath of protection towards the original icon, Sacha decided to keep this secret for himself. So that someone else could continue to protect it, Sacha made a delicate medallion in yellow gold and platinum paved with diamonds, whose secret compartment on the back hid the following note: "Blessed is the person who will again save Our Mother, blessed protector of eternal Russia".

So the first time I wore this pendant, I could never have imagined that its hidden compartment would reveal to me the true story of this Russian icon. To my despair, the note has since disappeared...

To know more about this object, it's here ;)