Chaumet’s 2021 high jewellery collection launches at Paris Couture Week
Chaumet’s high jewellery takes inspiration from the column of Paris’ Place Vendôme
Chaumet pays tribute to defining architectural codes with the release of this year’s high jewellery collection. Torsade de Chaumet is inspired by the frieze that winds its way around the Vendôme Column in Paris’ Place Vendôme, the square where Chaumet opened its boutique in 1812. The whorls that wrap around the column are translated into precious twists – torsades in French – drawn in diamonds and precious stones.
The twist becomes a fluid reference in the new high jewellery pieces, which curl around the neck and draw diamond waves in the hair; dangling precious gems from the glittering tendrils, they become flexible forms infused with light. The pieces, caught in mid-spin, appear to move and tremble with the wearer.
In the tiara, the curves of the collection are intertwined with the jewellery house’s history. The piece is a significant addition to Chaumet’s tradition of supplying jewellery to European courts; Empress Joséphine was a loyal customer, and her favourite pieces are given a contemporary rethink here, in twirling lines of diamonds.
In earrings, diamonds become dynamic, with coils appearing to jump off the ear. A tightly woven coil clings to a ring, is also seen around the diamond-studded dial of a watch, and elsewhere corkscrews its way around the earlobe. In a necklace and a bracelet, the asymmetrical patterns spin past their elongated outlines. In other pieces, coloured stones add warmth – cushion-cut Ceylon sapphires, Mozambique rubies and Colombian emeralds are a warm foil for the graphic clarity of the diamonds.
The launch of the collection coincides with the opening of Chaumet’s newly renovated store in London’s Bond Street. LVMH architect Patricia Grosdemange brings familiar Chaumet naturalistic motifs such as ears of wheat, grasses and plants to life for an elegant touch of Paris in the heart of London.
INFORMATION
Wallpaper* Newsletter
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox.
Hannah Silver is the Art, Culture, Watches & Jewellery Editor of Wallpaper*. Since joining in 2019, she has overseen offbeat design trends and in-depth profiles, and written extensively across the worlds of culture and luxury. She enjoys meeting artists and designers, viewing exhibitions and conducting interviews on her frequent travels.
-
Remembering Christopher Charles Benninger (1942-2024)
Architect Christopher Charles Benninger has died in Pune, India, at the age of 82; we honour and reflect on his passing
By Aastha D Published
-
Chanel shows its sporting colours with a bold high jewellery collection
Chanel's high jewellery collection is inspired by its founder’s athletic aesthetic
By Hannah Silver Published
-
Sarah Solis’ first furniture collection is an homage to art deco
‘Is it weird to call furniture sexy?’ Los Angeles-based designer Sarah Solis discusses her debut furniture line and new brand and store, Galerie Solis
By Dan Howarth Published
-
Wild beauties: high jewellery dripping with drama
The latest high jewellery collections are fantastic and flamboyant, drawing on a wealth of influences, from a Chopin composition and César Ritz to crocodiles and colour refraction
By Hannah Silver Published
-
Boghossian looks to the palaces of the world for a regal high jewellery collection
Boghossian's new Palace Voyages collection is inspired by royal architecture
By Hannah Silver Published
-
Chaumet, Cartier and Chanel up their high jewellery watch game for 2024
In 2024's high jewellery watch designs, performance tech and centuries-old techniques combine to brilliant effect
By Caragh McKay Published
-
High jewellery with dazzling effects
Stand-out gems dazzle against a backdrop of red and black in our high jewellery shoot
By Hannah Silver Published
-
Paris 2024 and Chaumet unveil Olympic and Paralympic medals
The Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic medals designed by Chaumet are not just emblems of champions but are storytelling jewellery
By Minako Norimatsu Published
-
Chunky chains are given a subversive high jewellery spin
High jewellery houses rewrite the rules by way of 1980s tunes and a blast of emeralds, spinels and diamonds
By Caragh McKay Published
-
Year in review: top 10 watch and jewellery stories of 2023, as picked by Wallpaper’s Hannah Silver
Silver’s top 10 watch and jewellery stories of 2023 span cool horological collaborations, sculptural forms, and cutlery as bracelets
By Hannah Silver Published
-
Chaumet exhibition celebrates the golden age of jewellery design in Paris
A Chaumet exhibition, ‘Un Âge d’Or’, in Place Vendôme, puts jewellery designs from 1965 – 1985 in the spotlight
By Hannah Silver Published