Each year on the central court of Roland Garros, the winner of the tennis tournament proudly lifts the Musketeers Cup.

But did you know that we owe this cup to the oldest jeweler in the world, the French company Mellerio?

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Each year on the central court of Roland Garros, the winner of the tennis tournament proudly lifts the Musketeers Cup.

But did you know that we owe this cup to the oldest jeweler in the world, the French company Mellerio?

This June 5, 1983, France holds its breath… On the central court of Roland Garros, Yannick Noah faces the Swede Mats Wilander.

The stake is immense, historical even for the French tennis player.

It's been 37 years that a French player has not won this prestigious Grand Slam tournament.

Mats Wilander does not give up, the third set is exhausting ... But Yannick Noah holds on and wins in front of a jubilant audience.

Photographers immortalize the champion raising the Grail: the Musketeers Cup.

But did you know that it is Mellerio, the oldest jeweler in the world and a French company that has been in the same family for centuries, who makes this silver trophy?  

Since the 16th century, the Mellerio family has actually specialized in brooches and jewelry.

She gained her fame thanks to prestigious clients including Marie-Antoinette, Joséphine de Beauharnais and more recently the Queen of Spain or the Princess of Monaco. 

But Mellerio also gives in sport.

It is in particular the jewelry house that created the coveted Ballon d'Or for footballers.

And so it is she who has been making the famous Musketeers Cup since 1981, after winning a call for tenders launched by the French Tennis Federation. 

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A naturalist-inspired cut  

This Musketeers Cup, whose name obviously pays tribute to tennis players Jean Borotra, Henri Cochet, Jacques Brugnon and René Lacoste, the four French musketeers of tennis at the start of the 20th century, is a large bowl in silver leaves surrounded by a frieze of grape leaves.

Two delicate swans form the handles.  

"We recognize a Mellerio jewel by its delicacy, but also often by its very naturalistic side", explains the president and artistic director Laure-Isabelle Mellerio, in "Marques de famille", the Europe 1 studio podcast in partnership with Harmonie Mutuelle.

"We always wanted to imitate nature as closely as possible, to get closer to the floral, the vegetal".

A precious trophy that never leaves the stadium

Noah, Borg, Nadal or even Djokovic ... the trophy has passed into the hands of the greatest tennis champions.

But the original Cup of the Musketeers never leaves the stadium.

It remains tidy in its precious case, a tailor-made trunk this time created by the Louis Vuitton workshops.

The winners can still boast of bringing home a cup ... Mellerio shapes each year for the winner a small replica of 21 centimeters and 14 kilos!