Chaumet: Discover new ‘Laurier’ collection
From the moment it was founded, the jewellery house Chaumet has placed nature at the heart of its designs, creating a herbarium of jewellery drenched in symbolism. For over two centuries, one of its symbols, laurel, has been the French brand’s constant companion — and recently it has taken a more central role in the new ‘Laurier’ collection.
Chaumet 'Laurier' pendant with 1.94ct diamonds in 18k white gold
The masculine element of the line was embodied in a blue colour scheme, in the ‘Firmament Apollinien’ line. The pieces were embellished with carved moonstones, and Burmese and Ceylon sapphires sang the ancient god’s glory and beauty. The feminine principle was represented in the ‘Métamorphose de Daphné’ pieces — a necklace, earrings, a ring and an elegant brooch with diamonds and a luxurious pink spinel from Tajikistan and Tanzania.
The 2018 collection Laurier returns to this theme again, but this time in more delicate jewellery, designed for everyday wear. The earrings, rings and pendants of this collection are draped in the reincarnation of the laurel theme, an amazing plant which symbolises immortality – as well as the victory and power of Napoléon, the lover of Josephine. Just like in the high art jewellery collection ‘La Nature de Chaumet’ (especially in the ‘Firmament Apollinien’) the laurel comes to life in an explosion of movement — with wild and lush curves of a particularly sophisticated nature. However, this time the shape and architecture of the plant is given an even more prominent role, as all the pieces in the collection are monochrome.
Chaumet 'Laurier' necklace with 8.63ct diamonds in 18k white gold
The ‘Laurier’ collections contains six pieces: a flexible necklace whose clasp resembles laurel branches swaying gently in them wind, hidden amongst diamond leaves, and on it, a medallion pendant with a delicate relief forms its own ring as the branch softly curves around it — an embodiment of the plant which bends but does not break when beaten. Two rings are designed to cover whole fingers, but their foliage boldly extends to the neighbouring fingers too. The earrings resemble whole laurel bouquets, gathered together with ribbons (wreaths traditionally bequeathed to competition winners,) and the watch secretly hides its dial under a lid scattered with diamonds, whose treasures are revealed only to the wearer.
Each piece demonstrates acute mastery in jewellery techniques, as well as the design virtuosity of the Chaumet house: exceptional materials, asymmetrical compositions, bold leaves, fashioned from gold and diamonds. In the ‘Laurier ‘collection, every detail is an exquisite example of the commendable high jewellery tradition of the house.
WORDS
Katerina Perez With more than 12 years’ experience in the jewellery sector, Katerina Perez’s expert knowledge spans everything from retail sales and management to content creation, including brand building, jewellery writing and styling. Born and raised in St Petersburg, Katerina’s favourite hobby as a child was playing with the treasures in her grandmother's jewellery box, inspiring a lifelong love of jewellery from a very early age. She spent five years in St Petersburg University of Culture and Arts studying not journalism but business studies and languages, and her writing skills have developed as her passion for her favourite subject – jewellery – has grown. This is why her writing comes straight from the heart rather than the pages of a book. Daughter of an entrepreneur mother, Katerina exchanged her retail management job for jewellery writing in 2013 and hasn’t looked back since.
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