All That Sparkles: The High Jewellery Launches From Paris Couture

Traditionally, during the Haute Couture Fashion Week in Paris, the jewellery stallmarks of Place Vendôme show their newest creations. Bamboo by Chaumet, wildlife by Boucheron, bestiary by Cartier, and lace by Dior - here is everything you need to know about the latest most dazzling collections of High Jewellery.

Bamboo, Chaumet

Chaumet's new collection is dedicated to bamboo, one of Asia's most popular plants, a symbol of wealth in Japan and perseverance in China. This mini-capsule includes only ten items. And, according to the brand, almost all of them are designed to be worn by both women and men (all rings in white and yellow gold and platinum, for example, are made in size 58). The collection will continue in July when Chaumet unveils its main collection of the year, also dedicated to the wonders of nature.

At the centre of the ‘Bamboo’ collection is a necklace with a 13-carat black opal from Australia and a tsavorite of almost the same size (12.91 carat) surrounded by hand-engraved gold petals and ‘columns’ of diamonds that literally repeat the geometry of real bamboo reeds. Earrings, rings, and brooches are made in the same style. One of them, the largest with a 5.5-carat tsavorite and two opals, can be transformed into a hair clip. Another brooch with gold and diamond petals follows the shape of bamboo reeds. Two other brooches, each featuring seven-carat opals, are sold in pairs and can be worn individually or together on the lapel of a dinner jacket. And, as with other Chaumet collections, there is, of course, a tiara made of white and yellow gold, studded with diamonds.

Untamed Nature, Boucheron

While in June, Boucheron's creative director, Claire Choisne has full carte blanche to create a high jewellery collection from any starting point, in January, she traditionally works with the House’s history and rich heritage. This time, Choisne turned to nature - the way the House's founder Frederic Boucheron saw it. The collection features pieces crafted exclusively in white gold and diamonds, and with references to botanical and zoological encyclopaedias, that the house’s founder collected extensively, to reproduce in jewellery the petals of ivy, thistles, ferns and insect wing details. Even Boucheron's rose bushes are always without beautiful buds, featuring only petals, akin to real shrubs that bloom only once a year.

There are 28 items in the collection, each with a Latin name, like in plant encyclopaedias. For example, there’s the ‘Roseau’ brooch; transformable two-finger rings (which can also be worn as brooches) in the form of a bumblebee (‘Bourdon’) and a rhinoceros beetle (‘Scarabée Rhinocéros’); hair accessories resembling oat leaves (‘Avoine’); and dress jewellery crafted from three large brooches mimicking lingonberry bush petals (‘Airelles’).”

Nature Sauvage, Chapitre 3, Cartier

This is the third and final chapter of Cartier's wildlife story ‘Nature Sauvage’: the first two chapters were presented last year in Vienna and Paris. The final part of the collection consists of a total of 24 pieces, including animal-themed figurative pieces such as the Panthère Canopée panther necklace in white gold with a 26.5-carat Ceylon sapphire, where the elegant feline seems to be resting on giant tropical leaves; a yellow gold ‘Tiger’ set embellished with a pavé of yellow, brown, red, and white diamonds and onyx; and yellow gold ‘Eutuchia’ earrings and rings with crocodiles set with emeralds and tourmalines. The collection also includes more abstract jewels such as the ‘Tutti Koronda’ in platinum with faceted sapphires, emeralds, rubies, and diamonds in the house's favourite Tutti Frutti technique; the ‘Melis’ necklace and earrings in yellow gold with yellow and white diamonds; and the magnificent ‘Echina’ set with emerald and sapphire beads shaped like sea urchin shells, where the earrings can be transformed into two brooches.

Milly Dentelle, Dior

Creative director of Dior jewellery, Victoire de Castellane returns to her favourite motif - Haute Couture lace. This time her source of inspiration is Christian Dior's estate in Milly-la-Forêt and its picturesque landscapes covered with a multitude of flowers, leaves and lush groves, which in Victoire's jewellery language turn into exquisite earrings, necklaces, bracelets, and rings made of white, pink, and yellow gold, adorned with precious stones and tiny pearl beads. The collection encompasses a total of 76 pieces, most of which were immediately sold to the House's top clients, lucky enough to attend the dinner show in Paris.

Liaisons Dangereuses, Elie Top

This year, Parisian jeweller Elie Top celebrates his tenth anniversary with a large-scale collection dedicated to one of his favourite epistolary novels,  “Liaisons Dangereuses” by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos. That's why each set of the ‘Liaisons Dangereuses’ collection is named after characters from the book. For example, the protagonist Cécile de Volanges is embodied by a heart-shaped pendant and delicate earrings, ‘Cécile’. Vicomte de Valmont inspired a brooch and ring, ‘Valmont’. Madame de Tourvel found her jewellery incarnation in a ring for two fingers and a bangle bracelet, ‘Tourvel’. Finally, the iconic Marquise de Merteuil in the universe of Elie Top is symbolised by the largest chandelier earrings, a cuff bracelet and a huge pendant with graphic motifs that mimic the gardens of Versailles, ‘Merteuil’.

In his unique manner, Elie Top always works with vintage techniques. This time, almost all the jewellery in the collection is made of yellow gold with an aged silver mesh that creates a three-dimensional effect, making it seem as though there is an additional stone inside the earrings, rings, and pendants.

Limelight 150 ans, Piaget

Last year, Piaget celebrated its one hundred and fiftieth anniversary with great fanfare. In January, the house added several pieces to the “Limelight 150 ans” anniversary collection: a cuff bracelet with a rainbow-coloured degradé made of sapphires, garnets, red spinel, and red spessartine; a set in rose gold, symbolising the flame, with bright red 12-carat pear-cut tourmalines, diamonds, pink sapphires, and rubies; and a massive collar necklace in faceted rose gold, made in the signature Décor Palace technique and set with sapphires, tourmalines, and spinel in delicate pastel colours.

Serpenti Infinito, Bulgari

In anticipation of the Year of the Snake according to the Chinese calendar, Bvlgari is launching new jewellery pieces and an advertising campaign dedicated to the house's favourite symbol, the Serpenti Infinito. In the new collection, the snake is reimagined in a variety of unique designs: from figurative with large eyes made of sapphires, rubies, emeralds, and diamonds to almost unrecognisable and minimalistic ones in white, yellow, and rose gold inspired by the ‘Serpenti Viper’ collection, where the symbol of the year is only identified by its graphic triangular scales. Bvlgari kicked off the celebrations with a large-scale exposition in Shanghai and promises to continue the festivities throughout the year with new themed launches and exhibition projects. Stay tuned!

Awakened Hands, Awakened Minds, Chapitre 2, Louis Vuitton

The second chapter of the 50-piece ‘Awakened Hands, Awakened Minds’ collection represents a new stage in the jewellery journey through 19th-century France when the house of Louis Vuitton was founded in 1854. Francesca Amfitheatrof is inspired by major industrial achievements that helped push the boundaries of what was possible. There is a particular focus here on men's jewellery - for example, the ‘Boussole Phenoménal’ pocket compass watch, made with a mother-of-pearl dial and cased in platinum and yellow gold with tsavorites and diamonds, as well as brooches and rings in men's sizes. Other highlights of the collection include the ‘Élégance’ graphic tiara set in white gold, with thirteen of LV's signature Monogram Star cut diamonds, and the ‘Victoire’ necklace in platinum and yellow gold, inspired by the Eiffel Tower, with 25 yellow diamonds and a pair of 10-carat and 3-carat LV Monogram Star diamonds, as well as the massive ‘Vision’ necklace in platinum and yellow gold with baguette-cut diamonds and a 50-carat octagonal yellow sapphire from Sri Lanka - it took Louis Vuitton ateliers 2,504 hours to create this necklace.

Pink Pierreries, Mellerio

France's oldest jewellery house, Mellerio, has introduced a new version of the ‘Pierreries’ necklace, crafted in pink, yellow, and signature green gold with pastel-coloured gemstones - pink and lavender quartz, peach morganite, purple kunzite, and opals.

Also in the new year, Mellerio will launch a line of gold jewellery in yellow gold and diamonds, ‘Stella’, featuring a guiding star, one of the main symbols of the House. This line will include rings, necklaces, long earrings, bracelets and mono-earrings, for those with multiple ear piercings.  

Preview Blast, Repossi

Gaia Repossi has unveiled the first ring from her new high jewellery collection, ‘Blast’, which she will showcase in July. Set in rose gold with five pear-cut diamonds totalling 1.9 carats, the ‘Spiral’ ring is inspired by the Japanese philosophy of ensō, which celebrates the circle of light and echoes the spirals of Maasai tribal jewellery.

Courtesy: of the brands featured

Text: Lidia Ageeva