Beyond the Typical Choice
It’s the semi-precious stone’s time to shine
You’ve seen it here – it’s the semi-precious stone’s time to shine
When crafting designs that use unique semi-precious stones in high jewellery, the lapidary’s painstaking skills come to the forefront.
These custom-cut stones lend a free rein to design, forging outof-the-box sculptural jewels that go beyond the norm and shine the spotlight on coloured gemstones, other than the three most obvious choices: Green emeralds, red rubies, and blue sapphires.
A pool of colours is at the heart of creativity. Nothing less than artworks, these over-the-top pieces are definitely not shying away from the limelight.
Each year, Caroline Scheufele, copresident and artistic director of Chopard designs a Haute Joaillerie “Red Carpet” collection for the Cannes International Film Festival. “Love”, the theme of this new line, features 72 pieces that expresses Scheufele’s love of semiprecious stones: A set comprising a necklace and earrings with heart-shaped tanzanites, Paraiba tourmalines, amethysts; two pairs of chandelier earrings created with a cascade of either tanzanites or amethysts, with coloured titanium holding the stones appears non-existent; two bracelets – one combines Paraiba tourmalines, tanzanites, amethysts and sapphires, and the other a Spessartite garnet opals, emeralds and sapphires. Other talismans, such as sautoir necklaces, feature subtly graded shapes evoking rainbow colours with multi-coloured sapphires, spessartite, and tsavorite garnets, blue topaz, as well as pink and green tourmalines.
Meanwhile, Louis Vuitton launches the new “Riders of the Knights” high jewellery collection that pays homage to medieval heroines who forged their own destiny, transcending their own limitations, just as semi-precious stones are today’s heroes. The Le Talisman amulet and necklace features a medallion of a custom-cut lapis lazuli with a silky finish, setting off the emerald’s stark green colour.
Geneva headquartered jeweller Boghossian creates a unique fancyshaped semi-precious stone earrings, using pairs of cushion-shaped kunzite of over 18-carat each, with oval-shaped tanzanites and cushionshaped green tourmaline, surrounded by custom-cut gemstones. It is further enhanced by geometricshaped diamond pave motifs.
This year, Chanel presents the 1.5 – 1 Camélia, 5 Allures collection with 50 new pieces of High Jewellery. Two icons play protagonist – the number 5 and the camellia – symbols close to Gabrielle Chanel. The Cristal Illusion necklace, ring, bracelet and earrings, are crafted in rock crystal and diamonds.
Inspired by the architecture of Place Vendôme, Boucheron’s “Paris, Vu Du 26” high jewellery collection takes the use of rock crystal one step further by innovating its own stone. A technical feat, the three-dimensional marquetry combines onyx, rock crsytal, and cachalong, resulting in the creation of the 26V long necklace and ring, at the heart of which lies, respectively, a 5.32- and 4.08-carat solitaire diamond.
Wallace Chan is inspired by Mother Nature’s gift to the scorpion of many pairs of eyes. The Wallace, a 45.51-carat Alexandrite Cat’s-eye is at the centre of the award-winning Hong Kong based jeweller’s new ruby, demantoid garnet, yellow sapphires, white and fancy coloured diamond parure depicting a pair of scorpions in love.
Inspired by the mysterious curves of a breathtaking desert landscape, Piaget celebrates nature in its latest collection – Golden Oasis. The Hypnotic Lights ring is created with a pear-shaped pink spinel, whereas the Dessert Sunbow earrings are crafted with two cushioncut red spinels, round-cut rubies, and marquise-cut pink sapphires.
The new Dior High Jewellery Collection, “Gem Dior”, is a declaration of love to coloured stones and their infinite variety of hues. Creative director, Victoire de Castellane reveals the rings are “like a little packet of stones that have been placed on the finger. A throw of stones like a throw of the dice. They topple over one another and wedge together to create effects of volume.” The exceptional know-how of Dior’s stone cutters and polishers showcase various cuts – baguette, square, pear, marquise, cushion, and oval. Over-layering the stones in a jumbled construction conceals their settings forming colourful geometric designs.
In Van Cleef & Arpels’ “Arche de Noe collection”, Éléphants Clips are crafted in buff-topped sapphires, lapis lazuli, and malachite, while the Pingouins Clip is made with white and pink gold, diamonds, coral and onyx.
Rarely seen in High Jewellery, lapis lazuli beads come together with a 15.48-carat octagonal yellow Ceylon sapphire and yellow, orange and white diamonds in Cartier’s Magnitude High Jewellery Équinoxe Necklace. Additionally, in the new Magnitude line, Cartier brings together bold, creative materials that were never meant to meet. Diamond allows rutilated quartz to sparkle; sapphire shines alongside matrix opal; emerald gleams next to rock crystal; and pink diamond is coupled with morganite and coral.