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What if love could be sculpted? If a simple gesture — holding hands — became the witness of a deep, invisible, yet eternal bond?
Whether to mark an engagement, a wedding, a wedding anniversary, or to thank a lifelong love… some gestures surpass what words alone can carry.
With L’Étreinte, Forest Audiard offers a poetic and timeless answer to the search for pure emotion: a sculpture born from a simple gesture — holding hands. Specifically, the fragile hollow formed when two hands join. A fragment of love frozen in bronze. A living memory. An eternal symbol.
Holding hands. And holding the moment.
“Love may be spoken in a thousand tongues, yet it lives in a simple gesture: holding the hand of the one you love. A contact so ordinary we instantly forget it — and yet, it reveals everything.”
— Michel Audiard
That fragile hollow between two joined palms — an unnamed space, yet full of promise. That is what we chose to sculpt. Not the hands… but what binds them.
“L’Étreinte is born of two intertwined hands. A gesture of love frozen in time. An invisible shape, yet so powerful.”
— Sébastien Forest
L’Étreinte is born of a silent vow. It embodies what is felt more than what is said. Crafted from the real imprint of two hands joined — a fragment of connection sculpted for eternity.
“It is the promise of being present, the tenderness of a suspended moment. We wanted to capture that fragile hollow so it may become a landmark, a witness, a timeless symbol of love.”
— Sébastien Forest
Be it a wedding, a wedding anniversary, or an engagement… significant moments call for gestures of proportion. L’Étreinte isn’t worn. It stands. It inhabits a space as a marker. It tells your story.
“Marriage is choosing to walk hand in hand — literally and symbolically — weaving a bond that endures through time. L’Étreinte is that bond, materialized in matter, preserved forever.”
— Sébastien Forest
Each Étreinte is a unique, entirely bespoke piece.
It is crafted in our art foundry in Touraine, in France, using the ancestral lost-wax casting method.
Cast at over 1,100 °C, then hand-chiseled, polished, and finished, it requires 10 to 12 weeks of creation.
It is available in five finishes:
Whether for a wedding, an anniversary, or an engagement, L’Étreinte is a rare and deeply symbolic gesture.
It is a gift one offers to a loved one or to a couple one admires — a heartfelt way to mark time, to preserve a bond in matter, and to make it art.
At once intimate and universal, L’Étreinte moves through years, generations, and silences.
It does not display — it inhabits. It does not speak — it tells.
And each time hands or eyes return to it, a fragment of love comes back to life.
Michgel Audiard's advice:
“Forget what dazzles. Seek what resonates. L’Étreinte is not just a sculpture. It is an imprint of love cast in matter. If you seek a gift to live rather than to display… then here it is.”
We would be delighted to welcome you to our art foundry in the heart of Loire Valley in France but we can also travel anywhere in France to take the imprint — whether at your home or in a place that holds special meaning for you. (We also offer solutions if you are based abroad.) This moment, too, becomes a memory in its own right. Each Ouvre-Vin is sculpted from the actual imprint of its owner’s hand. It is then cast in bronze in our foundry, before being hand-chiseled and polished with care. It is a sculpture to be lived with, crafted to endure. Each unique piece requires 10 to 12 weeks of work, carried out by women and men with exceptional savoir-faire.
The best gifts are those that carry meaning — not just beauty. L’Étreinte is one of them. Sculpted from the real imprint of two joined hands, it captures the very essence of a shared journey: the bond, the time, the emotion. Rather than offering an object to possess, it offers a memory to preserve. It is not worn, it is not stored — it inhabits a space, like a silent witness of love that has endured, and that will continue to grow.
L’Étreinte is not tied to a date — it is tied to meaning. It can be offered for a wedding, an engagement, a birth, a vow renewal, or even as a gesture of remembrance. Each time, it becomes a symbol of connection. A way to honour what binds two people — whether in joy, in promise, or in memory. It is the ideal gift when words fall short, and when the intention deserves to be eternal.
