Lace It Up

THERE’S SOMETHING ABOUT LACE THAT INSTANTLY ADDS A TOUCH OF DELICATE CHARM AND DRAMATIC FLAIR TO YOUR WARDROBE

Like a spider spinning an everwidening web, lace has been weaving its way into the world of fine jewellery, with pieces featuring openwork, filigree or lace-like patterns created with diamonds or etched in mother-of-pearl. With an intricate construction accentuated by precisely positioned diamonds, each piece crowned with a central starflower surrounded by multiple drops of floral motifs, Graff ’s Bohemia necklace is a perfect example of diamond lace. The beautiful piece is set with 52.91 carats of multi-cut brilliants.

Using the tulle technique, one of the most complex in high jewellery, Italian jewellery Buccellati has created the Ornato collection, which includes pendant earrings and rings. It takes nearly a month for the goldsmith to bore a gold plate of half a millimetre by hand and shape minuscule hexagonal cells inside it to form the intricate honeycomb pattern that the jeweller is known for. Buccellati also uses a technique known as stile fiorentino to create the Renaissance-inspired Rombi Eternelle two-toned ring of white and yellow gold.

Chaumet has released four precious watches under the Hortensia range. In yellow or white gold, the dials are adorned with mother-of-pearl marquetry—alternating squares of guilloche riverwater white mother-of-pearl and of seawater white and gold mother-of-pearl, cut and engraved with the hydrangea flowers pattern.

The Chaumet Hortensia watch (above) comes in 31mm with a bezel set with 55 brilliant-cut diamonds, animated with slender openwork hands, powered by a Swiss quartz movement and matched with a satin bracelet in beige.