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How did an Iron Age goldsmith make a necklace intricate enough to send a modern jeweller back to the workbench? That question sits at the heart of L’ÉCOLE, School of Jewelry Arts’ new digital out-of-home campaign in Dubai. Launched in the second week of October 2026, the campaign introduces “Recreating Gesture: Crafting a Gold Necklace from the Iron Age,” an exhibition opening on 5 November at Building 10 in Dubai Design District.

L’ÉCOLE has used Dubai’s screens to invite the public into its galleries before. Its December 2024 outdoor campaign announced free admission to an exhibition of 705 men’s rings from the Yves Gastou collection. The number gave passersby an immediate sense of how much there was to see. This October, a single necklace carries the invitation. The reason to visit lies in how much researchers can learn by trying to make it again.

The Goldsmith Behind “Recreating Gesture”

The necklace in question is a torque, a collar worn around the neck, discovered in Montans, France. It dates to the Second Iron Age. To investigate how its Celtic maker worked the gold, L’ÉCOLE turned to experimental archaeology. Goldsmith Antoine Legouy took on the task of reproducing the piece. Twisting the gold wire, adjusting the curve of the collar and soldering its components gave the research team practical ways to test how the original might have come together.

That work explains the most distinctive choice on the roadside screen. Two illustrated hands reach towards the necklace, one poised above it and the other close to the gold. For someone encountering the title “Recreating Gesture” in passing, the hands make an unfamiliar phrase easier to grasp. The subtitle supplies the rest in everyday language. A viewer can understand what the exhibition is about without already knowing what a torque is.

An Invitation Timed to Dubai Design Week

The October rollout gives the announcement several weeks on Dubai’s roads ahead of its opening during Dubai Design Week. On screen, the date sits directly above the address. Naming Building 10 matters here. Dubai Design District tells an audience which part of the city to head for, while the building number gives someone planning a visit an actual destination. L’ÉCOLE signs the invitation, and the credit to Van Cleef & Arpels identifies the French jewellery Maison that supports the school.

Visitors can follow that invitation beyond opening day. The exhibition runs until 24 April 2027, with free admission by reservation. On 7 November, the school’s open day adds guided tours and gold-themed workshops for children. Later dates offer a distinctly local way into the subject. The “Jewels & Journeys” programme pairs a tour of the exhibition with a visit to Dubai’s Saruq Al Hadid Museum, bringing the study of a French archaeological find into conversation with discoveries made in the UAE.

For L’ÉCOLE, that local connection is part of a longer relationship with the district. The school opened its permanent Middle Eastern campus in Dubai Design District in April 2024, joining its locations in Paris, Hong Kong and Shanghai.