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By: Victoria Townsend - Arabian Watches & Jewellery magazine - Paris
Paris, France bustled during the first week of July with international journalists and fashion trade professionals from all over the world, in the city for a firsthand look at the men’s ready-to-wear and women’s Haute Couture collections. As has now become customary, major jewellery houses at the Place Vendôme joined the activities of Paris Fashion Week to show off their new fine jewellery creations to a captive press.
The presentations made by Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels, Boucheron, Chaumet, Chanel and Dior also provided journalists with a sneak preview of what to expect at the forthcoming prestigious Biennale des Antiquaires, as the pieces shown were from collections that will be exposed in their entirety at the Biennale to take place at the Grand Palais in Paris from September 14 – 23.
Louis Vuitton
Another major event during the week was the opening on July 3 of the first ever Louis Vuitton stand alone store exclusively dedicated to fine jewellery and watches, along with their first fine jewellery workshop, at 23 Place Vendôme. The event that also included a presentation of their new High Jewellery collection and dinner at the Ritz Hotel just next door on Place Vendôme attracted world attention with the presence of many international stars and VIPs.
Buccellati
And for Milano – based Buccellati, their first collection of ‘cocktail earrings’ at their Place Vendôme store was comprised of 65 models of colourful handcrafted earrings, some detachable and transformable, with sculpted and engraved jade; sapphires, emeralds, amethysts, aquamarines, green and pink tourmalines; white and grey pearls; and diamonds, set in gold, silver and platinum with distinctive Buccellati style and designs.
Chanel
The “En Avant -Première de la Biennale des Antiquaires” Presentations
Gabrielle Chanel created her collection of “Bijoux de Diamants” in 1932. Acclaimed by the press at the time, this year’s celebration of the eightieth anniversary, in honour of Mademoiselle Chanel’s audacious creativity, presents eighty sumptuous new pieces under the name of the ‘High Jewellery Collection “1932” ‘. Sixty-five pieces were presented during Fashion Week, the remaining 15 will be shown at the Biennale.
Before reaching the presentation room, a very exceptional staging had us pass through a planetarium, with brilliant overhead shooting stars, the rising of the moon, and Saturn with its rings: a celestial show to pave the way to the Chanel fountains of comets, stars, suns, and constellations, sparkling in white, yellow and black diamonds; blue and pink sapphires; and pearls. All the jewellery was displayed in a case totally encircling a second large round room, intentionally darkened with light shining only on the collection, for additional breathtaking effect! The “Celeste” brooch evokes a planetary system with diamond stars turning around an exceptional 79 carat Baroque cultured pearl from Australia; the ‘Cosmos’ theme with crescent moons and stars includes a necklace, rings, earrings and beautiful bracelet watch, while from the ‘Fontaine’ theme, also with rings, a bracelet and pendant earrings, the necklace is a cascade of round and baguette-cut diamonds. An astrological theme – with lions for Leo, Mademoiselle’s sign, is also shown for the first time.
And because Chanel is also a Couture House, the collection includes jeweled creations evoking ribbons and feathers that compose precious necklaces, earrings, rings, and watches.
Cartier
Cartier will be showing no less than 148 unique new pieces of high jewellery, each representing up to 2 years to complete, plus 12 precious objects, plus a selection of pieces from the Cartier Tradition collection at the Biennale next September. During Fashion week, more than half of the High Jewellery pieces were presented to us.
Under the theme of journeys and traveling, the creations were inspired by changing landscapes, with colours and forms reflecting lush green vegetation or hot, sunny climates; urban city black and white structures or the cool beauty of icy polar regions.
The collection includes a platinum ring mounted with a panther of diamond brilliants and emerald eyes, onyx spots and nose, playing with a cushion-cut sapphire; black and white urban designs in rings and bracelets; an intricately designed white gold necklace set with brilliants crossroading over a demi-globe of rock crystal, from which dangles a briolette-cut diamond; and a platinum ring of 2 triangular-shaped diamonds of 3.2 and 3.03 carats, surrounded by baguette cut diamonds and brilliants.
Van Cleef & Arpels
The new collection of High Jewellery presented by Van Cleef & Arpels – “Palais de la Chance” - is inspired by the theme of luck. Jacques Arpels, nephew of Estelle Arpels, used to say “To be lucky, you have to believe in luck” and this collection includes a myriad of lucky symbols from heaven, earth and the seven seas, including ladybugs, 4-leaf clovers, fairies, and unicorns. The collection is organized around 3 themes: your lucky star; lucky charm in nature; and lucky legends. As in most other collections, some of the pieces are transformable.
Among the outstanding creations, we noted the “Sept Etoiles” necklace set in platinum, inspired by the constellation the “Great Bear”. Made with 7 cushion-cut sapphires from Kashmir, weighing a total of 33.73 carats, and completed with round, baguette-cut, pear-shaped and rose-cut diamonds, the necklace is accompanied by its ‘Sept Etoiles’ earrings, also in platinum, with diamonds.
The ‘Trèfles Clip’ in white gold – a four-leaf clover representing luck, true love, health, and good fortune - is set with 2 heart-shaped pink sapphires for a total of 15.27 carats, and diamonds, while the “Coccinelle Mystérieuse Clip” also in white gold portrays an onyx Ladybird with wings of buff-top rubies ( a combined cabochon and faceted cut for a velvety effect) in a mystery setting, and diamonds, black spinels, yellow sapphires and red gold.
Ivy, with its evergreen foliage and vigor, is a symbol of attachment, faith and eternal love. This ‘Lierre’ set of necklace and earrings has a combined total of 56 oval-cut emeralds weighing a total of 98.62 carats. In white gold, the set also includes diamonds, black spinels and platinum. The jeweled clasp at the back of the necklace is in the form of an ivy leaf for extra good luck!
Boucheron
The Boucheron High Jewellery Collection has been inspired by secret archives. This collection reinterprets the jewellery ‘savoir-faire’ of their Place Vendôme workshop, under the theme of ‘L’Artisan du Rêve’, intended to lead us into a world of reverie and emotion.
“Creating emotion is our reason for being” used to say Frédéric Boucheron who founded the House in 1858.
The theme is composed of no less than 9 subthemes that are inspired by nature and mystery, ranging from delicate wings to assertive serpents, from ivy to magical spheres that hide treasures. The menagerie theme of ‘Animaux de Collection’ introduces chameleon brooches and Ladyhawk and Pegasus rings, in emeralds, sapphires, diamonds, pearls, opal and rock crystal. Some of the pieces are transformable, as with the ‘Nature de Cristal’ set of diamonds and rock crystal that becomes a necklace, ring, earrings, and brooch.
The ‘Bouquet d’Ailes’ theme includes a light, ethereal collection representing butterfly and dragonfly wings, and peacock feathers, made of emeralds, coloured sapphires, firestones and diamonds, masterfully assembled into a necklace, earrings, ring and a shoulder brooch that seems ready to fly away.
The magnificent ‘Perle au Trésor’, a sphere-shaped object of diamonds, pearl and mother-of-pearl sitting on a pedestal of rock crystal, required over 3,000 hours of work to complete. The sphere is in fact an inlaid jewel case that opens to reveal its treasures of a necklace, brooches and a bracelet, all in diamonds, pearls, opals and mother-of-pearl.
A distinctive signature of Boucheron, the ‘Cabochon’ is presented in a colourful array of rings and bracelets set with the finest emeralds, rubies, pink and black sapphires, tourmalines, aquamarines, firestones, citrines, pink quartz, and diamonds.
Another signature is the ‘Serpent’ and this collection shows off a powerful ‘Serpent Opalescent’ in a diamond, opal and rock crystal necklace.
Chaumet
Chaumet, with its store, mansion, historic salons, museum, workshop and creative studio at 12 Place Vendôme, presented their “12 Vendôme” Collection: 40 pieces that compose 12 contemporary jewellery sets created for the Biennale.
Founded in 1780, the House claims a legitimate history of expertise with 230 years of uninterrupted savoir-faire. Renowned for its tiaras, some of which were created for the empress Joséphine, Europe’s royal courts and other illustrious clients, Chaumet today combines French classicism with Parisian elegance and modernity. The result is light and audacious, based nonetheless on more than 2 centuries of expertise.
Among the memorable pieces is the masterpiece white gold “Aigrette Tiara”, from Set N° 12, with a 40 carat cabochon cut white Ethiopian opal surrounded by 250 diamonds, 34 blue tourmalines, and 22 violet tanzanites. Like many Chaumet creations, it is transformable and can be worn as a headpiece topped with feathers, or as a brooch or necklace. The separate necklace from the same Set is in white gold with a 115 carat cabochon cut green Australian opal, with 1188 diamonds, 158 blue tourmalines and 30 violet tanzanites.
Chaumet is a master of ‘Metamorphosis’, and with this year’s collection a new version of the ‘sautoir’ or extra-long necklace is transformed to adorn not just the neckline, but also the shoulders and hips.
This year’s collection displays a breath-taking selection and settings of emeralds, sapphires, rubies, diamonds, purple jade, spinels, and spectacular white, blue or black opals.
Dior
The House of Dior is also preparing for the Biennale, with its “Dear Dior” collection comprised of 10 explosively colourful one-of-kind sets, plus 2 reproductible pieces: the Dear Dior ring and Dear Dior earrings.
The sets have been given evocative haute couture names such as ‘Broderies’, ‘Dentelles’, ‘Organza’, ‘Résille’ and ‘Tulle’, and Victoire de Castellane has once again demonstrated her extra-large size creativity and master of colours, mixing platinum, yellow and pink gold, white and yellow diamonds, pink spinels and tourmalines including one of her favourites: Paraiba tourmalines, orange and purple sapphires, amethysts, rubies, and garnets into breathtaking sets of rings, bracelets, and earrings, shown here with the “Dentelle Opale d’Orient’ ring and bracelet; the “Dentelle Tourmaline Rebrodée” ring, and the “Résille Bouquet d’Opales” earrings.
Also presented are five new models from the watch collection ‘Dior Pièce Unique’, numbered from 11 – 15, with oscillating weights in either jade, turquoise, or mother-of-pearl, engraved or inlaid and set with diamonds and coloured stones, each equipped with the Elite movement by Zenith manufacture, and two new Dior VIII Grand Bal ‘Plissé’ watch models, in white gold and black ceramic, these in 88 pieces each.
According to the official list posted by the organizers of this year’s Biennale des Antiquaires, the new and complete collections from Boucheron, Bulgari, Cartier, Chanel, Chaumet, Dior, Piaget, Siegelson, Van Cleef & Arpels, Wallace CHAN Int. Ltd., and Harry Winston, will be presented at this XXVI edition. With the sneak previews we have just seen, plus a décor designed by Karl Lagerfeld himself!, there will be much more sparkling to come in the City of Light!