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For the third year, journalists in Paris for the Haute Couture week in July were invited to discover firsthand the new collections of some of the most reputed Jewellery Houses in the world.   

Van Cleef & Arpels CamaieuxDeCouleurs crowned by an exceptional oval pink spinel weighing 21.19 carats, embellished by a daring combination of materials. Coral, diamonds and mauve sapphires alternate on different levels to create a cascading architecture for this unique piece.

Seven brands were officially listed on the Fashion Week calendar:     Boucheron, Chanel, Chaumet, Dior, Mellerio dits Meller and Van Cleef & Arpels made the majority of their presentations at their traditional Place Vendôme Houses, while Bulgari presented at its shop on avenue George V near the Champs-Elysées.   Bulgari later hosted one of the finest receptions of the entire week in a nearby private mansion and garden that gathered personalities from all domains including their most recent brand ambassadress Carla Bruni Sarkozy. 

L’ODYSSÉE DE CARTIER Bracelet - white gold, onyx, garnets, brilliants

Other brands, including Louis Vuitton, Hermès, Buccellati and Akillis joined the activities to present their novelties during the same week, while Cartier preferred to show off its new high jewellery collection at a later date, taking us on an imaginary journey in a calm and select environment.   

Highlights:

Boucheron

“Rock crystal and Light”:   Boucheron presented 50 finished pieces from a total foreseen collection of 120 mostly unique pieces under the theme of “Hotel de la Lumière”, referring to the inspiration for this collection: the luminous boutique situated until today on an angle of the Place Vendôme first occupied by Frédéric Boucheron 120 years ago. Divided into 8 ‘chapters’, the essentially rock crystal, white gold and diamonds creations, some cascading, some transformable, with subtle and soft coloured morganites, tourmalines and aquamarines, composed a harmonious collection of necklaces, bracelets, earrings and rings. Chapter 1 – ‘Soleil Radiant’ includes a jewellery box made of rock crystal, diamonds and white gold.

Italian House Bulgari is reputed for its strong designs and colourful stones, and this “Diva” collection was no exception.   Including Jewellery and Accessories lines featuring unique crocodile handbags with jeweled closures, the collection showed off   High Jewellery creations under 8 themes, using Italian names such as ‘Venice Ball’ and the ‘Gala in Costa Smeralda’- a   necklace exploding with colours of tourmalines, mandarin garnets and peridots,   but also ‘Persian Memories’ with its ring and bracelet composed of 6 perfect emeralds,   diamonds and rubies for a total of 240 carats of gemstones,   and the ‘Forever Glamour’ necklace with its 43 carats cushion shaped diamond surrounded by sapphires and more diamonds.

Chanel

“Sous le signe du Lion”   a sign that inspired Mademoiselle Chanel.

From the “Lion Celeste” brooch in white gold and diamonds to the “Constellation of Lion” brooch and earrings combining lions with another Chanel symbol – comets, in gold with yellow and white diamonds, yellow sapphires and rutilated quartz; 

from the sumptuous and spectacular “Lion Royal” transformable necklace to the no less spectacular “Lion Mosaïque” necklace with a total of 97.8 carats of diamonds set in white gold, this collection of 58 exceptional pieces develops the Lion theme that first appeared in 2012.

Chaumet

Rings!   For its first high jewellery creations in the “Liens” line, Chaumet chose to present 12 unique rings in white gold: rings of impeccable construction, with vaporous or sculptural lines suggesting diamond-studded ribbons and precious fabrics of interwoven baguette and round diamonds.

The collection is all white, all blue, or white and blue: diamonds, but also sapphires, aquamarines and tourmalines, from an instantly recognizable “Liens” creation set with 91 brilliant-cut diamonds and 20 baguette-cut sapphires, to a graceful interpretation composed of 158 brilliant-cut diamonds set around a 7.23 carat cushion-cut sapphire.

Dior

Dior Jewellery introduced their latest colourful collection ‘Cher Dior’ created by Victoire de Castellane.

Christian Dior was a master of colours, and   Victoire de Castellane shares his talent of mixing them and making them harmonize or clash, but of making them work together.   Rubies, diamonds, garnets, Paraiba tourmalines, emeralds and coloured sapphires from light to intense yellows, from pale to deep purples, with every shade of pink, have been selected to create colourful and glittering bouquets in the forms of earrings, necklaces, rings and bracelets.

Mellerio dits Meller

Mellerio dits Meller celebrates its 400 years of existence this year with its new high jewellery collection dedicated to Marie de Médicis, Queen of France who in 1613 granted the rights by royal decree to the Mellerio family to sell their creations throughout France.   Refined and a patron of the arts, her passion for jewellery, and for diamonds and pearls in particular, led her to wear them on her neck and body, but also in her hair and sewn on her dresses.   Inspired by these different usages, and by the emblematic ‘fleur de lys’ of France, this collection includes a tiara transformable into a necklace, a ring that graces 3 fingers with diamond bouquets, and the amazing ‘Traine de Corsage’ – a brooch of diamond flowers holding a long cascade of pearls with emeralds.

‘Pierres de Caractère’ was a collection first presented by Van Cleef & Arpels 7 years ago, celebrating their centenary with an homage to the beauty of gems, their magical hues, and the emotions they evoke.   This year’s collection ‘Pierres de Caractère – Variations’ is a tribute to women of character: beautiful, glamorous and international. Daring combinations of motifs and colours and exceptional stones result in highly contrasted rings, necklaces of aqauatic and sunset hues, and a flamboyant ‘Oriental Princess’ necklace and detachable clip featuring 42 rubies from Mozambique, round, baguette-cut and pear-shaped diamonds, and a pear-shaped diamond of 8.07 carats forming the detachable heart of the pendant.   

Other brands joined the momentum, with

Louis Vuitton

- Louis Vuitton presenting the continuation of its colourful “Voyage dans le Temps” collection in 4 themes: ‘Dentelle de Monogram’, ‘Flashforward’ using the Damier motif, ‘Fleurs d’Eternité, and ‘Galaxie Monogram’ with its extraordinary 45.50 carats Australian opal ring;     

Hermès

- Hermès, with its short but sensational new “Haute Bijouterie” set of ring, bracelet, plastron necklace and earrings named ‘Niloticus’ in honour of a crocodile species from Egypt.   This striking collection represents crocodile scales in pink gold with white diamonds set on each gold joint between the scale, highlighted with coloured stones of tourmaline, iolite, beryl and paridot, in baguette, pear or cushion cuts. 

- Buccellati and its collection of unique pieces that fascinate with their lacelike suppleness of gold and diamond bracelets, amazing colours with the “Jade Lavande” set of bracelet, ring and pendantif / brooch, and their astounding ‘Snake’ necklace made of 3,160 pink sapphires with 2 yellow diamonds for the eyes.

- the rapidly growing Akillis brand that presented its novelties at its very first own shop in Paris, on the rue St. Honoré.   The splendid ‘Cruella’ collection showed off fine stones and settings in a more classic way to complement the more daring AK, Puzzle, and Bang Bang collections.   Lebanese singer Haifa Wehbé was special guest of honour for the opening event.                   

        

Two weeks after the hectic Fashion Week, Cartier High Jewellery Creative Director Jacqueline Karachi presented the new exclusive High Jewellery collection “L’Odysée de Cartier Parcours d’un Style” in the Salon du Patrimoine at the Cartier Boutique, on rue de la Paix just beside the Place Vendôme. Her description of unique stones and their inspiration, leading to the creation of unique pieces, took us on an imaginary journey to Africa and the Orient, through India and China. Solar and ochre colours reflected the hot earth, while traditional geometric motifs and animals were evoked using rutilated quartz, obsidian, golden topaz, and pearls with orange tourmaline, with irregular onyx strips and brilliant-cut diamonds and garnets to compose a powerful Zebra bracelet.   Bold designs and daring contrasts between blue and green led us to the Orient.   Ruby balls, engraved emeralds and brightly coloured stones tapered with diamonds in the form of snakes that seemingly slide onto the wrists transported us to modern India, while China revealed itself with an opulent golden-winged phoenix that seemed ready for flight, a dragon – even 2 dragons, and a baby panda. The City was not forgotten, with its architecture and fast pace reflected in the lines and bold designs.   

Within the codes of the strong and very different identities of each House, these brilliant collections showed off breathtaking stones, fine craftsmanship, and exceptional creativity.