Chanel looks to materials or motifs woven throughout its history for chic and often playful high jewellery. Last year, the ubiquitous Scottish tweed was knitted in diamonds; the year before, the intricately embellished Coromandel screens which inspired Gabrielle Chanel were rethought in precious gems.
This year, it is one of Gabrielle Chanel’s favourite destinations, Venice, which becomes the focus of the Escale à Venise collection. Composed of 70 pieces and divided into four sets, it reinterprets the city’s most famous features. In the La Sérénissime set, the architecture is reflected in a diamond framework, the facades of the palace and marble floors of the churches becoming rich patterns of diamonds interlaced with a bold hue of gems.
In Gran Canale, the nautical world of the gondolas is drawn in lapis lazuli; in a play on colour, the diagonal stripes of the red and white mooring poles are drawn in red spinels and diamonds. The bold colours carry through to the Isole Della Laguna set, which looks to Gabrielle Chanel’s favourite flower for its inspiration. The camellia, its asymmetrical outline reproduced in carnelians and fire opals, makes a vivid foil for a rock crystal and yellow gold ring.
The spiritual head of the city, the lion, takes centre stage in Spirito di Venezia. It is a theme we have seen before – nodding to Gabrielle Chanel’s star sign, the lion was the focus of 2013’s high jewellery collection. Here, it is cast in profile and set with pear and shuttle-cut diamonds, grandly presiding over a necklace and bracelet. §
