Fine Conversation: New High Jewellery Collections

Every year, high jewellery collections are the most anticipated events in the jewellery world, attracting the attention of hundreds of luxury lifestyle magaizine connoisseurs from all around the world.

Haute Couture Week in Paris is an excellent opportunity for well-known jewelry brands to showcase their opulent pieces by staging a slew of lavish shows. Why? The top clients of major fashion houses travel to Paris for couture defiles, hoping not only to buy haute couture dresses but also to find the perfect jewelry to go with them. The upscale format of such shows creates their own unspoken rules: most of the pieces on display are one-of-a-kind, and the number of hours of handmade labor spent to create each one – which can sometimes reach several thousand – is comparable to labor costs in fashion ateliers. This is why high jewelry shows have a prestigious place on the fashion week calendar.

Each new high jewelry collection should outperform the previous one by featuring the largest and most beautiful stones, demonstrating innovative and transforming looks that can be worn in a variety of ways, and maintaining recognizable design codes – all without repeating itself. An entire team, from the gemologists to the creative director, is challenged to check all of these boxes in order to create the perfect piece. Another unspoken rule is that the most spectacular piece in a “high” collection is the necklace. They are usually the most sought-after and exhibit the purest expression of creative thought. Because of this, many collections begin with a necklace.

Chanel, 1932

This collection, which commemorates the 90th anniversary of the Great Mademoiselle’s only collection, also begins with a necklace. Allure Celeste is a cosmic fantasy featuring stars, the moon, and the sun. The necklace features diamond halos surrounding a star and a comet that can be worn separately as brooches, while the central diamond strand transforms into a bracelet. It is set with a magnificent 55.55 carat oval-cut blue sapphire and large diamonds.

Style History: New Maharajahs, Boucheron

The Histoire de Style: New Maharajahs collection is a contemporary interpretation of the jewelry designed by Boucheron for the Maharajah of Patiala in 1928. Its transformer is made of gold, diamonds, and rock crystal, and the central motif is set with nine 40-carat Colombian emeralds that can also be worn as a brooch – which looks great on men instead of a tie! Surprisingly, the necklace can also be worn as a flexible collar.

Cartier Sixième Sens

Cartier offers a Victorienne long necklace inspired by the famous 1925 Berenice shoulder piece with a 141-carat carved Mughal emerald, as well as volumetric links of diamonds and black lacquer with a 16.43 carat emerald cabochon forming a flexible weave as part of its Sixth Sense collection. A 7.89 ct Sri Lankan sapphire cushion is also crowned by a geometric Heteractis ring.

Chopard

The Swiss firm displays its most recent acquisitions, which primarily consist of rare size and color stones. A massive uncut emerald weighing 6225 carats that was mined in Zambia at the Kagem Mine in accordance with strict ethical and environmental standards has become a true sensation. Chopard intends to launch an emerald collection based on this magnificent stone in the coming years. A 70-carat pink Caroline Star diamond and a pair of blue 4.22 carat and flawless transparent pear-shaped diamonds in a ‘toi et moi’ style ring round out the collection.

Louis Vuitton Bravery II

The first part of Bravery was dedicated to the 200th anniversary of Louis Vuitton by Francesca Amfitheatrof, the creative director of the Louis Vuitton jewelry branch. This second section focuses on its main invention, the travel chest, by reimagining classic elements like locks and metal corners. It also features a diamond-encrusted letter V, which serves as the setting for a massive 20.29 carat warm cognac yellow sapphire from Sri Lanka in the Le Magnetisme necklace.

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