How did fine jewelry strengthen its relationship with high fashion?
About a decade ago or a little more, fine jewelry houses began to infiltrate Paris Haute Couture Week, bringing with them precious items that, in their uniqueness and prices, mimic the fashion offerings of this season. Not everyone welcomed her. For some designers, this presence was an intrusion into their private space, and for the media, it added work that drained their time… which they complained about but could not confront or ignore its importance.
However, what many of us do not know about this infiltration operation: It was actually a rescue operation for a week in which he began to lose weight and was balanced. After the 2008 crisis, the “haute couture” season was subjected to an economic crisis, which weakened its official program. All designers can no longer spend exorbitant sums to hold huge shows comparable to those organized by large fashion houses, such as Chanel and Dior, so they withdrew and were content with small exhibitions. At the time, some went so far as to mourn this line and say that it was dying, in light of the shrinking number of customers in the United States of America. Fortunately, the entry of jewelry makers into the industry and the emergence of new markets opened the doors wide, while female customers from a younger generation contributed to revitalizing it. Now fashion and jewelry are two elements that complement each other; The first cannot deny the beauty of the second, and vice versa, if we take into account that the jewelry world also benefited… He found the ground paved and ready to showcase his creativity.
A collar-shaped necklace inspired by a crown made by Boucheron in the first decade of the twentieth century… and it is re-presented through a lace-like necklace composed of diamonds and rock crystal (Bouchron)
The process only took a few seasons, after which the high-end fashion market began to revive and even achieve unprecedented profits. In the last season that Paris witnessed for spring-summer 2024, the official program included no less than 29 fashion houses. However, what is striking this time is that many jewelry houses missed the deadline. The reasons are different; Some of it is a break, and some of it is rearranging the papers and preparing for the next season. Among the jewelry houses that were absent, we mention Van Cleef & Arpels, Chanel, and Bulgari, while Boucheron, Dior, and Louis Vuitton were keen to participate as usual, along with Cartier and Chaumet, De Beers, and David Morris, which made do with small performances on the sidelines.
A craftsman in the “Bouchron” atelier studs a piece that will be used to decorate the shoulders (Bouchron)
There are also those who cite the reason for their preparation for “Watch Week,” which is held annually in Geneva under the name “Watchers and Wonders.” That is, “Hours and Wonders,” next April. As for Paris, they will be there during the summer season. This is the favorite season for high-end fashion clients… on the one hand, because they are either in Saint-Tropez and Portofino, or in Monaco and other Mediterranean resorts near Paris; On the other hand, because the warmth of summer stimulates buying more.
Since the movements of fashion makers are mostly determined by market movements, they noticed that their customers were addicted to indulging in an experience in which they enjoyed every detail, similar to what the big fashion houses offer in the “cruise” line that takes them to distant places. From this perspective, the presence of jewelry makers is no longer limited to Paris, and instead of adhering to the official Haute Couture week program, they are taking their important customers to different destinations. Their goal is for the enjoyment to include the beauty of the places, the uniqueness of the designs, and the preciousness of the stones. Louis Vuitton, for example, took them to Greece, Cartier to Florence, Italy, Van Cleef & Apples to Lake Como, Italy, and Dior to Shanghai. Destinations change, but the goal is the same; It consists of creating experiences that remain engraved in the memory. Because it links their creativity to stories or roots that give it an invaluable dimension.
But what is interesting about most of the collections presented this season is that they did not completely turn their back on Paris Fashion Week. She left the line of friendliness open by making fashion a source of inspiration, which appeared in techniques that mimic embroidery, braided braiding, and lace, and others that take their shapes from buttons, pins, and others.
“Dior Délicat” collection
In each piece, Victoire de Castellane expressed multi-faceted femininity by relying on the arts of embroidery and perforation (Dior)
The link between fashion and jewelry is not new for a house that specializes in “haute couture” and is considered a cultural institution for the French. Its interwoven threads appear in many of the collections created by its artistic designer, Victoire de Castellane. The picture was no different this time than before. Embroidery in all its forms was the focus of the Dior Delica collection. Here the delicacy of the perforated fabric combines with the setting, revealing complex geometric compositions enhanced by the glow of rubies, emeralds, blue sapphires, tourmalines, tanzanites, as well as opals. The designer’s favorite stone. Dior did not travel with its collection outside Paris. On the other hand, she chose a palace located on the west bank of the Seine River as a scene to house 79 pieces. 5 of them are unique, including a flexible necklace made of multiple strands of diamonds that resemble crosses taken from decorative images.
Thanks to the delicacy and lightness of the perforated fabric, the setting seems to fade into the background… allowing the gemstones to reveal their bold colors in complex combinations that reflect the craftsmanship that the House cherishes (Dior).
Victoire de Castellane says that “Dior Delica” represents a different approach in which it played “on asymmetry, to create a kind of balance.” Each thread has been carefully created so that it appears as if it were reflected in a mirror, and at the same time; It does not resemble any of the lines adjacent to it from the right or left.
Boucheron Power Of Couture collection
It was Claire Choisin; The artistic designer of Boucheron, she has delved more into the world of fashion and tailoring this season. It had its justifications… What many of us do not know is that the founder of the house, Frederic Boucheron, was the son of a textile merchant specializing in silk and lace, which had a great influence on his approach to jewelry design. Throughout the nineteenth century, he worked on gold and stone craftsmanship, inspired by high fashion and the delicacy of fabrics.
A knitted necklace and epaulets made of white gold studded with diamonds that can be transformed into a pair of bracelets (Boucheron)
“When I looked at the archives, I saw a lot of tailoring and high fashion vocabulary that had never been dealt with directly, so I wanted to tie it all together,” Claire Choisin comments. She called the collection “Power Of Couture”; That is, “the power of sewing,” which explains the metals that were tamed to take the form of high collars, braids, ribbons, laces, and medals like those that adorned kings on ceremonial occasions.
Among the pieces I designed in this collection is one entitled “Knitting.” It is a flexible necklace with 5 rows that looks like woven threads. Like the rest of the 24-piece collection, this necklace and matching bracelet are made entirely of rock crystal, diamonds and precious metals.
Each crystal was cut and polished to ensure that the final image was not shiny, while interspersed with chevron links, the famous pattern in the world of knitwear, are studded with diamonds on ropes of nitinol, a lightweight alloy of titanium and nickel discovered by the US Navy. The main feature of the necklace is a two-carat diamond surrounded by circles of rock crystal and round diamonds. This necklace took 1,070 hours to make, and its price is estimated at 1.6 million euros. Equivalent to $1.7 million.
When the “No” piece is disassembled, it can be worn in the form of a brooch or a bracelet… and the dangling diamond can be attached to a ring (Bouchron).
There is also the “No” set, which comes in the form of a knotted ribbon, and is a symbol of high fashion. Claire translated it in a harmonious geometric style between the matte rock crystal texture and the sparkle of diamonds, as the 435 crystal pieces are surrounded by more than 4 carats of diamonds. When disassembled, the band can be worn with the pendant as a brooch or bracelet, and the pendant diamond can be mounted on a ring. These details justify its price of 1.9 million euros.
“Cartier” – “Le Voyage Rocomance”
“Merageo” necklace centered around a line of Sri Lankan rubies, the sides of which are decorated with decorations of rubies, emeralds and garnets (Cartier)
The theme of the Cartier house was travel and nature, but it was not without attention to the arts of fashion, with its glowing colors that clashed in harmony, including pieces with asymmetrical shapes. Cartier’s weapon was not only precious stones in their purest state; Rather, the glowing colors were mixed in one piece to create an artistic painting, which made the difference between this collection and others that it does not need to keep up with fashion, as it is full of elegance that can elevate, in a second, any fashion piece, no matter how simple or monotonous its color. The “Mirageo” necklace, for example, revolves around a line of Sri Lankan rubies around which all the other components revolve, such as decorations of rubies and emeralds that appear as a symmetrical grid evoking the pattern of colorful peacock feathers.
In a context related to the world of fashion and elegance, Cartier also unveiled the “Spina” necklace, composed of a mesh fabric of rubies and diamonds. It includes a “Ceylon” ruby weighing more than 29 carats. This necklace is an addition to the “Le Voyage Rocomance” collection that was introduced in May, and it can also be worn in the form of a crown by placing the ruby upwards.
Chanel Lion Solaire collection
A diamond-studded necklace with a lion’s head in the middle, with all its power and majesty (Chanel)
But perhaps Chanel remains most closely associated with the world of fashion and its arts. In most of its fine jewelry collections, its craftsmen return to the source, specifically to “haute couture,” from which they derive shapes that mimic fashion, fabrics, weaving, and knitting. Last year, the house treated us to a collection inspired by tweed, the fabric associated with it, and this year, it presented us with a collection called Lion Solaire de CHANEL. She said it was Mademoiselle Chanel’s tower, making it a powerful symbol of the house’s vocabulary. He first entered the jewelry department in 2012 with the Constellation du Lion necklace, which today has become one of the most important preserved pieces of high jewelry in the Chanel heritage. In 2013 and 2018, the Sous le Signe du Lion and L’esprit du Lion high jewelry collections were entirely dedicated to him. . In 2024, it appears again in the Lion Solaire de CHANEL collection, with five new pieces; A necklace, two rings and two pairs of earrings.
