Following on from 2023's poetic promenade, Le Jardin de Chaumet, the Un Air de Chaumet high jewellery collection was unveiled with grandeur during the January Couture shows in Paris on the iconic Place Vendôme, modelled by friend of the Maison Coco Rocha. A testament to the Maison's unwavering commitment to pushing the boundaries of design while paying homage to its rich heritage, Chaumet takes inspiration from the Maison's patron, choosing to use Empress Josephine's favourite animals as the focal point of this collection - birds in flight. Let's soar through each of the four suites included in this collection and glide over each one, delighting in their precious materials, transformability and modern aesthetic.
Plumes d'Or
Un Air de Chaumet opens with the Plume d'Or suite, a series of pieces entirely inspired by the luscious plumage of birds. Created in brushed rose gold, white gold and grain-set diamonds, a technique in which the jeweller drills small holes close together into the metal where the gemstones will be set. Each piece included in this suite brings to life the image of open wings, taking shape in the form of a tiara, the focal point of which is a 2.3-carat pear-cut diamond, the favoured stone cut of Josephine, alongside a pair of ear cuffs that wrap around the ears. What's more, the tiara transforms by removing the central structure of the design and snapping it in half, creating a brooch and a hair ornament for a more versatile high jewellery look. This Parure embodies contemporary femininity, as the delicate bird wings are recreated into pieces with a transformable and modern aesthetic.
Ballet
The second suite in the Un Air de Chaumet collection mimics the aerial display of a gulp of swallows in flight. Made up of two main pieces – a brooch that can be transformed into a smaller brooch and a head ornament, as well as a second pair of ear cuffs, these pieces portray the aerial ballet of swallows through elongated wings and tails created in polished white gold and grain-set diamonds, followed by trails of rose gold to mark their sweeping movement as they dart and dive from earth to sky. Both main pieces sit flush against hair and skin, creating the illusion that the birds are travelling with you as you go about your day.
Parade
The bird figure in the Parade suite moves away from the classical image of the swallow bird, creating a hybrid form with that of a bird of paradise. Using the shape of its fine feathered tail, both birds are combined into a fascinating display in an asymmetrical brooch and earrings. Using pear-shaped diamonds as the face of these unique birds, fine ribbons of rose and white gold interspersed with grain-set diamonds curl into exaggerated tails, accompanied by the full diamond pave bodies of the bird. The transformable element in this suite is that the bird stud of the single ear cuff can be removed and worn as a stud, continuing the versatile nature of this collection.
Envol
The fourth and final Parure of Un Air de Chaumet is the most conceptual set of the collection, moving away from the physical shape of birds towards representations of the traces their light flapping wings would leave behind as they brush against our hair and ears. Also unlike its predecessors, the three pieces in this series - a transformable brooch, hair ornament and ear cuff, are entirely made from white gold and diamond, devoid of the repeating rose gold accents seen prior. The result is a series of airy structures in which the diamonds seem to almost soar in mid-air through curved tendrils of precious gold.
Un Air de Chaumet is yet another unique chapter in the long-standing story the brand has woven between precious materials and nature. Conveying the movement between earth and sky through reimagined birds in flight, each piece honours the Maison's renowned virtuosity in gemstone and gold manipulation to create avant-garde high jewellery creations. We cannot wait to see what July Couture will bring!
