Elite Traveler November-December 2015

LAURIE BROOKINS ON HIGH JEWELRY

De Beers Talisman ring

Alexandre Reza Croissant earrings

Chopard Green beryl pendant necklace

green beryls, with a 93-carat, pear-shaped green beryl as its centerpiece in its 2015 Red Carpet Collection. Bulgari, meanwhile, celebrated its love of Italian gardens. One necklace is crafted in rose and white gold and evokes a 1960s mod sensibility with its daisy- esque flowers, with each diamond center stone en tremblant , a technique that sets the stones on minute springs, so that they tremble slightly as the wearer moves. One of the questions often asked of high jewelry is: which comes first, the stones or the concept? Benjamin Comar, international fine jewelry director for Chanel, says they create the design first and find the stones to fulfill it. The latest collection, Les Talismans de Chanel, takes its cue from the “lucky charms” Chanel herself favored, with seductive names such as the Hypnotique necklace in yellow gold, showcasing a 10.5-carat tanzanite. Byzantine influences are also seen throughout the collection. In an utter coincidence, De Beers also titled its latest high jewelry collection Talisman, a 10th anniversary celebration of a signature collection for the brand. Rough diamonds are the stars, with creative director Hollie Bonneville Barden showcasing them alongside polished stones. During that July appointment, the finale of the collection remained unfinished: Bonneville Barden had designed a lariat-like necklace in rough and polished stones in subtle hues, and on a white panel she had affixed each stone in its place, an outline of a necklace waiting for its eventual owner. Once crafted, the metal joining each stone will be as hidden as possible, giving the illusion of diamonds floating around your neck. With such clever and remarkable pieces as this, it is clear that this year’s high jewelry collections have climbed to even greater heights.

Few aspects of fashion remain as refined and private as haute joaillerie , or high jewelry, those one-of-a-kind pieces that represent the pinnacle of a house’s savoir faire in the craft of all things diamond and gemstone. For more than 200 years Paris’ Place Vendôme has been the epicenter of high jewelry. The first house, Mellerio dits Meller, set up shop far earlier in 1613 and today roughly two-dozen ateliers occupy many of the 17th century baroque townhouses, as well as buildings on adjacent streets, surrounding the iconic public square. High-jewelry debuts take place during the same July week as the fall/winter haute couture collections and many are now on annual tours of moneyed stops around the world. The mandate is that each design should be wholly handcrafted; never duplicated; and typically feature the most rare gemstones or flawless diamonds. This means each collection can take two years or more from concept to completion. Alexandre Reza (or A Reza), the Place Vendôme house is comparatively young by haute joaillerie standards. Alexandre Reza started out as a purveyor of diamonds and gemstones in the 1950s before opening his eponymous house in 1981. Today it is run by his son Olivier and combines tradition with modernity. Olivier’s crescent-shaped Croissant earrings are crafted in rose gold and polished pink sapphires, then edged in slices of white diamonds, while a rose gold bangle splashed with white diamonds is likewise deceptive in its workmanship. Another feature of high jewelry collections is that most find their roots in the brand’s DNA. Chaumet based its latest collection on the Empress Josephine, a muse of the house since it was named the official jeweler of Napoleon I in 1802. Chopard, known for its sponsorship of the Cannes Film Festival, featured a spectacular necklace crafted of white diamonds and

Bulgari Spring Encounter necklace

Chanel Bague Charismatique ring

Laurie Brookins is a New York-based fashion journalist and stylist