A GARDEN OF DELIGHT

Dior’s latest high jewellery collection explodes with botanical energy.

Versailles – Louis XIV’S lavish chateau – remains to this day an endless fountain of inspiration. Drawing from the intricate, manicured floral details of Jardin du Roi Soleil is Dior’s latest haute joaillerie collection – Dior a Versailles, Cote Jardins.

Dior Joaillerie creative director Victoire de Castellane is known for her flamboyant and kaleidoscopic approach to jewellery creation.

This season, she has indulged in even more excess. The copse of Versailles’ verdant energy anchors a collection that explodes with exuberance and abundance. Each piece – there are 66 in all, 29 being unique – is a miniature encyclopaedia of botanic references. The Dior Bosquet de la Salle de Bal bracelet is focused on a carved rock crystal shell, a direct reference to Jardin’s Ballroom Grove. Flowers of diamond, emerald, sapphire, tsavorite, garnet, tourmaline, spinel and peridot twine around the Dior Trianon necklace like ivy.

The ruby at the centre of the Dior Orangerie Rubellite ring attracts a butterfly and bee, each composed of diamonds.

But all is not left to grow wild and untamed.

The precise geometry and metalwork of Versailles garden designer Andre Le Notre is referenced too – notably in the Dior Bosquet de la Raine earrings, paying homage to his complex box hedge and metal filigree patterns. Romantic and resplendent, the collection is a cornucopia of colour and cut. The Empress Josephine herself would approve. www.dior.com Δ

Each piece is a miniature encyclopaedia of botanic references.

Rubellite Orangery ring in white gold with stones that include diamonds, emeralds and rubellite.

From left: Light Opal Girandole Grove earrings; Paraiba Tourmaline Queen’s Grove earrings.