LES CLEFS D’OR ACTUALITÉ INTERNATIONALE
HISTORY OF THE GOLDEN KEYS From Military Collar Decoration to International Symbol of Exceptional Service: The Uniform Golden Keys of Les Clefs d’Or text by Jacob Detering The axiom that “the hotel Concierge of Les Clefs d'Or invented the modern profession the world now calls 'Concierge'”, should be frequently repeated. This statement is endowed with such compelling meaning that it deserves to be more broadly acknowledged. In the early days of the profession, hotel Concierge in European capital cities took to wearing two pairs of crossed golden keys on their uniform collar to symbolize their newly created Concierge roles within their individual Hotels. People familiar with the traditions and mysticism of Catholicism would immediately recognize an instant similarity between the Les Clefs d’Or crossed golden keys and the crossed keys of St. Peter that appear on the Papal coat of arms. That the founders of the Concierge profession in their many and varied faiths appropriated a mystical symbol that was intended to represent ‘the keys of the kingdom’ or divine power on earth, is a representation not far off what a great hotel Concierge can actually achieve… truly! Today the crossed keys as worn by Concierge Clefs d’Or throughout the world have become an internationally recognisable trademark of quality. In much the same way that the established Woolmark® symbol denotes an excellent textile product; the crossed keys can be immediately recognised by hotel visitors as representing an individual capable of providing a superior service product. The crossed keys are also forever associated with world travel, many romantic locations, local knowledge, honesty, individual discretion, dignity and an ever present attitude of friendship. There is now such evocative and multi-layered meanings associated with these simple crossed keys as worn in a hotel lobby; but it wasn’t always the case. The beginning of the crossed keys as used in hotels has a purely functional origin that commenced a long time prior to the formation of any Concierge association. The practise of hotel Concierges wearing crossed keys insignia on a uniform collar finds its establishment in the traditions of military dress and the wearing of collar decorations to indicate branches of the armed services or military ranks. It is no coincidence that many early Concierges served in the military prior to their hotel employment. As military conflicts of the late 19th and early 20th century throughout the world concluded, a number of former armed services personnel began new lives as hotel employees and many of them brought their military traditions to their hotel lobbies and this included wearing uniform collar insignia. Frenchman Pierre Quentin, who founded Les Clefs d’Or in 1929 also served in the First World War. For his service he was awarded both the Croix de Guerre and the Médaillé Militaire. In his later life Quentin was also named Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur. Following the First World war, Concierge associations emerged throughout Europe. As members of these Concierge associations already wore the crossed keys on their collar, in process of time the symbol of the crossed keys came to informally represent membership within each association. Many members of these associations wore uniform coats with crossed keys embroidered with gold thread on their collars. A number of Concierges also took the more elaborate step of personally engaging local jewellers to create metal crossed keys that could be pinned to their uniform collar. When the French formed their association of hotel Concierges in 1929, they formally named themselves: Les Clefs d’Or. Which means quite literally, ‘The Golden Keys’. When Union Internationale des Concierges d’Hôtels was founded in its European form in 1952 – in addition to the new association’s original lengthy title the members also more simply named themselves after the keys they wore. They also called themselves: Les Clefs d’Or. The following year at the Congress held in San Remo, Italy, Les Clefs d'Or adopted the crossed golden keys as the official symbol of membership. From this time onward the use of metal keys became more prominent. The individual who championed the adoption of the keys symbol and who is often known as the ‘Father’ of Les Clefs d’Or in its transnational form, was Mr. Ferdinand Gillet. Gillet was a Swiss national who had moved to Paris in the years following the foundation of Les Clefs d’Or in France. In the period after the official adoption of the keys symbol, a constructive relationship was formed between the Swiss Clefs d’Or and a local Swiss jewellery company named Bucherer, which was founded in 1888. Bucherer was commissioned to provide a simple model of the crossed keys insignia for the Swiss Concierge community. Occasionally international Concierge colleagues visiting Switzerland, would ask about obtaining the keys for use in their own country. In this way Bucherer was able to supply many global Concierges with keys. A number of other national Concierge associations and individuals formed similar relationships with local jewellers to created crossed keys pins. However it wasn’t until the late 1990’s that Union Internationale des Concierges d’Hôtels «Les Clefs d’Or» undertook to create a universal key design for use throughout the worldwide association. In 1997 the international Les Clefs d’Or Executive Committee under the leadership of International President Andras Gunst charged Second Vice President Aldo Giacomello with exploring the possibility of creating an elegant and universal crossed keys collar insignia. A symbol of membership that would represent with consistency every Concierge Clefs d’Or in every hotel lobby throughout the world. Second Vice President Giacomello wrote about the initial spark for the uniform keys concept, “The society was growing fast and I took into consideration that we needed a strong element to unify and maintain a common ideal around the world and strengthen every member within a common identification. Enriched with my international experience and deep personal involvement in our association, I deduced that the best element to develop was the common element of identity: ‘THE KEYS’. Giacomello, then Chef Concierge at the Hotel Beau Rivage in Geneva sought a meeting with Mr. Gianfranco Ritschel, manager at the Bucherer headquarters in Lucerne. Mr. Ritschel heartily embraced ‘The Keys’ project proposal and set his design team to work on creating a suitable design for the universal keys.
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