Tonda Gentile hazelnut from Piedmont · PGI Grand cru cocoa beans Twenty-five per cent sugar · not one grain more No artificial flavourings · no preservatives White truffle · Black truffle · Summer truffle Tonda Gentile hazelnut from Piedmont · PGI Grand cru cocoa beans Twenty-five per cent sugar · not one grain more No artificial flavourings · no preservatives White truffle · Black truffle · Summer truffle

L'Esthétique de la Forme

From the sketch
to la Larme.

From pencil on paper to modelling software, from the silicone mould to the first castings in grand cru couverture, four stages, months of work, to find the one shape the tongue and palate welcome without effort.

— Recto — Folio I · The study

— the raw sketch —

Three shapes tried,

only one kept.

The sphere rolls. The cube cuts. The cone topples. Every geometry was tried, measured, set aside, our mouths knew it before we did.

the sphere, rolls
the cube, cuts
the cone, topples
  • i.too spherical — rolls on the palate
  • ii.too angular — the tongue closes up
  • iii.too narrow — melts before it's tasted
  • iv.this shape, the mouth knows it
— Verso — Folio II · The modelling

— from paper to screen —

Ergonomics,
measured.

43,19 × 25,01 × 12,5 mm

the tongue
knows it
before
the taste.

three beats, in the mouth —

  • 1.the grand cru couverture gives way — the bitterness of the cacao
  • 2.the praline opens up — the Tonda Gentile hazelnut
  • 3.the guest surprises — black lemon, truffle…

The Atelier — Paris, Sept. 2024 —

· thirty prototypes the perfect shape for the palate 5 g · 43,19 × 25,01 × 12,5 mm ·
I.

— phase i —

Pencil
on paper.

One hundred and forty sketches, six notebooks, measurements taken by ruler. The gesture founds the form.

Dec. 2022, March 2023

II.

— phase ii —

The 3D,
to the hundredth.

NURBS modelling, tolerance ± 0.05 mm. Forty-two revisions before fixing the curve, every radius, every tangent, negotiated on screen.

Apr., Sept. 2023

III.

— phase iii —

The mould,
in silicone.

Six moulds, six couvertures, six castings. The shape stops being an idea and becomes a gesture, unmoulding, shine, snap.

Oct., Dec. 2023

IV.
La Larme, forme finale — final —

— phase iv —

La Larme,
in hand.

Five grams, forty-three millimetres long, twelve and a half thick. The perfect shape for the palate.

since Sept. 2024