Offer the best. CRISTEL has established its current position by remaining faithful to its own exacting requirements. The huge red-brick chimney that remains from the former factory serves as a reminder of the company's long history.

The success of the brand has been built on this commitment to uphold its values. CRISTEL is liked for the beauty, quality and intelligence of its products, for the flavours they promise to create and for the company's unique history. Every company has a personality. Some of them even have a soul.

Shared values

The 2000's crowned the company's success. CRISTEL firmly established its leading position on the French market and its presence grew in over thirty countries. CRISTEL products appeared on the shelves of the most famous stores in Paris, Tokyo, Moscow, New York, London and other major capitals. Renowned names in French cuisine expressed their affinity with the brand.

This decade was also one of changes within the company. In 2006, Bernadette and Paul Dodane entrusted Emmanuel Brugger with the general management of CRISTEL. Damien Dodane supported him in the role of general manager, and was given responsibility for marketing strategy and international development. His sister, Myriam, a specialist in business law in Metz, was tasked with managing the company's legal affairs, in particular matters relating to intellectual property. As joint directors, Paul and Bernadette Dodane still have an active role in the company. Paul Dodane remains a designer, as ever, and Bernadette Dodane is still the brand's most determined and successful ambassador.

With the Cook & Serve concept that revolutionised tableware, CRISTEL began to raise expectations. The brand had to keep its creative edge.

At the beginning of the 90's, induction hobs began to gain ground. Paul Dodane contacted EDF, Ugine (a world leaders in stainless steel) and the manufacturer of ceramic hobs. Together they created a research team. Eighteen months later, the technical solution was found. Once again, CRISTEL led the way.

The 90's also saw the arrival of Emmanuel Brugger at CRISTEL. In 1990, he met Fabienne, one of Bernadette and Paul Dodane's daughters. In 1993, he married Fabienne and joined the company, while pursuing his studies as an engineer. He would go on to computerise the production process and, later on, lead a major plan to modernise production equipment. This was only the beginning.

Gradually, tableware boutiques and top Parisian stores opened their doors to this new brand and its unprecedented reputation.

Under the direction of Paul Dodane, CRISTEL set up a carefully constructed corporate policy. Bernadette Dodane was the brand's diligent ambassador. By listening and working closely with distributors, the management team shared the values of this unique company. Within a decade, CRISTEL became the leader on the French market and began to grow internationally. The brand was particularly popular in Japan, due to its successful combination of ergonomics and French style.

Paul Dodane's major innovation was known as Cook & Serve. At the end of the 1980's, the saucepan was still just an ordinary kitchen utensil. It had no place in the upmarket boutiques that sold porcelain and crystal. With Cook & Serve, it took its rightful place in the world of cookware.

The removable handles designed by Dodane were clear-cut, smooth and elegant. When clipped on, the purity of their design and the beautiful shine of the stainless steel became apparent. Saucepans could now be used to serve and CRISTEL cookware made its entry into the world of tableware.

The idea was excellent. But the idea alone does not fully explain the ensuing success of the brand. CRISTEL's focus on quality is second to none. It was this quality that was such a success with professionals.

In 1984, faced with the difficulties of the cooperative, local managers and the Board of Directors hired a management and organisation consultant. The consultant in question was a lady named Bernadette Dodane – a freelance professional with a flair for training and rigour. An injection of money was required to modernise production tools and reduce costs. However no investors willing to take on such a risk were to be found. Another option was to stop manufacturing generic products, focus on innovation and use the exceptional know-how of the technical teams. That was the suggestion of Bernadette Dodane's husband.

Paul Dodane worked as a technician at Automobiles Peugeot. He was not directly involved in this complicated affair, but CRISTEL's problems obviously became a subject of conversation at home. One evening, he came to the CRISTEL workshops, saw the equipment and talked with the people there. His words found a receptive audience. So what was this innovative approach?

Discussions continued and a relationship of trust was formed over the coming months. For the employees as well as the authorities, the Dodane couple appeared to have the only solid answer. They were told in no uncertain terms: "Only you can do it."

In 1987, they finally did so. They mortgaged their home and asked friends to invest in the capital of the new limited company CRISTEL, which would be chaired by Bernadette Dodane. This was just a beginning, but the employees of CRISTEL regained hope.

The two World Wars would interrupt the company's striking growth. After the first and second World Wars, the company had to deal with an even more formidable opponent: the beginning of the 1950s and plastic. This century of modernity would be one of disillusionment for the Japy family. The family's unity was broken and the company was taken over by the banks. The world had changed too fast.

In the 1970's and 80's, workshops were closed one after the other. In Fesches-le-Châtel, the presses were shut down in 1981. The factory stayed shut for two years. In 1983, a group of former employees re-opened the doors illegally, to struggle against the company's fate. These workers had firm convictions. For them, the company was viable and they believed in it. Their plan to create a cooperative was accepted by the local authorities. It was nothing short of a victory. Former clients were contacted and the noise of the presses awakened the hopes of the people in this little valley.

Now the company needed a new name to put its past behind it. The workers wanted a name that sounded clear and bright. They thought of Cristal and Chatel (for Fesches-le-Châtel, where the company was born). In the end, they picked CRISTEL. A perfect name.

However, the courage of the new cooperative was not enough. Working tools were dilapidated, production capacities limited order volumes and the treasury was empty. The cooperative rapidly ran out of momentum.

This story began in 1806, when a visionary entrepreneur bought a mill and a vast area of surrounding land. He was a 56-year-old man named Frédéric Japy. He set out to build an empire. Within a few years, he revolutionised the manufacture of clocks by introducing modern, mechanised techniques. He invented machines and filed patents. He also set up many workshops throughout the region. Then, like the industrialist that he was, he sought to rationalise.

The Fesches-le-Châtel factory would become his flagship. When he passed away in 1812, the company was handed down to his three sons who, in turn, helped the business grow and built new factories. In 1830, Japy Frères manufactured the first stamped French saucepan in the Fesches-le-Châtel workshops.

Japy became France's second biggest industrial company during the era of the Second Empire.

The 1880's were the golden age of this fast-growing company, which had a number of further successes with typewriters, coffee grinders, garden furniture, light fittings, and more.