Inspired by the world's most beloved opera houses, the Chaumet est une Fête high jewellery collection present the drama of love, joy and artistry in four scintillating arias. By Charmaine Ho
Inspired by the world's most beloved opera houses, the Chaumet est une Fête high jewellery collection present the drama of love, joy and artistry in four scintillating arias. By Charmaine Ho
“Our jewellery are not sculptures; andthis is somethingthat we stronglybelieve in. We create beautifu lpieces to lookat, but, even more importantly, they are beautiful pieces for beautiful women to wear,” says CEO of Chaumet Jean-Marc Mansvelt, when we speak to him at Chaumet’s headquarters, l located four stories above its flagship boutique on Place Vendôme. WWhile his statement is made in reference to the French jeweller’s glittering oeuvre a quick look at the brand’s newest high jewellery collection, Chaumet est une Fête (meaning “Chaumet is a feast” in French), is enough to convince that the Maison has once again executed its belief with finesse.
Presenting 40 new creations in four parures, the collection melds glamour and drama with youth and vigour in equal measures. Along with showstoppers that turn heads in any crowd, there are simpler, yet no less glamorous designs that command admiration through subtler means. Each range has its own personality and nature, as distinct as the world-famed opera house that inspired it, resulting in an encompassing body of work that offers a little something for everyone—with the leitmotif of wearability running consistently through it all.
The grand dame of the lot, the Aria Passionata, for example, delivers the prestige and grandeur of Milan’s Teatro alla Scala through regal designs that recall the gilded red curtains and plush interiors of what Stendhal once proclaimed as “the most beautiful theatre in the world”. (The French writer was famed for breaking out the hyperboles; but that doesn’t detract from the truth of his statement in this regard.)
Rhodolite garnets, onyx, diamonds and East African blood red rubies, in a myriad of gem cuts and sizes, take centre stage against a backdrop of pink gold and lacquer. Crowned by amajestic eight-strand transformable necklace of ruby beads, the collection of earrings, rings, brooches and timepieces drip with passion and romance that woulddo very nicely at a grand premiere of Verdi’s La Traviata.
At the other end of the spectrum is Pastorale Anglaise, with Colombian Muzo and Zambian emeralds presenting a fresh and vigorous proposition alongside a chorus of rubies, sapphires and diamonds set in white and yellow gold. Inspired by Glyndebourne country manor, whose green, manicured lawns have played host to the Glyndebourne Festival Opera since 1934, the parure brings a smile to the face with a tartan motif that recalls picnic blankets, sparkling company and bottles of champagne hitting the high notes of a musical evening.
The parure’s pièce de résistance comes in the form of a transformable bowknot necklace whose generous size belies a sense of lightness, thanks to a skilful handling of the design’s volume that seems capable of floating off at the first hint of a breeze. Another surprise? The bow’s underside is cloaked with diamonds as if daring a waft of air to try and upstage it. Yet, for all its splendour, one could easily see it sitting snug under the collar of a crisp white shirt à la Carolina Herrera.
From left: The transformable Valses d’Hiver necklace bears fine pearls paired with pear-, round- and brilliant-cut diamonds weighing approximately 3.4 carats. The Rhapsodie Transatlantique necklace with a 29.77-carat morganite, 23.38-carat chrysoberyl, 12.87-carat Imperial topaz, 12.21-carat tourmaline and 10.67-carat tanzanite
Then, there are the other two parures that seem to represent a perpendicular arm on the emotive compass. Heading to the new world of America and the New York Metropolitan Opera on the city’s Upper West Side is the Rhapsodie Transatlantique. Umba garnets, Padparadscha sapphires, Imperial topazes, tourmalines and a host of other gems all come together in a youthful snow-set libretto of rich, vibrant colours on a range of earrings, rings and brooches, presided by a necklace crafted through the fils couteau technique (which sees gems being set on metal tracks so thin, they’re barely visible to the eye).
Last but not least is the immaculate Valses d’Hiver range, with gleaming pearls and twinkling diamonds transporting onlookers back to the days of Strauss waltzes under the chandeliered ceilings of the Vienna Opera house. Whorls of diamonds curl around their calcium carbonate cousins with light-as-a-brush-stroke swirls that evoke twirling gowns and dancing feet of debutante balls and weddings. And it is perhaps in this latter parure that Chaumet has stuck most closely to what has come to be expected of its 237-year history.
Showcasing a modern take on an Art Nouveau tiara (and what is Chaumet known for if not this regal adornment that has graced the heads of state?), Valses d’Hiver sees the brand tipping its hat to its long-standing relationship with pearls. As the brand’s Global Communications Director, Anne-Line Roccati, tells us: “Chaumet, really, was the pearl dealer in France; it was the specialist of pearls. Everybody else came here—from America, from everywhere—to buy pearls. It is a very important part of Chaumet’s history.”
Recalling the sizeable tiara that Chinese model-actress Angelababy wore at her US$31 million wedding in 2015 (the tiara once belonged to the late Princess Isabelle of Orleans-Braganza, Countess of Paris), we have no doubt that it has become a very important part of the celebrity’s history, too—which seems to be a calculate dintent of the jeweller.
From top: The transformable Pastorale Anglaise necklace bears a 28.98-carat emerald from Colombia Muzo, along with 39 emerald cabochons from Zambia. Like the necklace, the Pastorale Anglaise watch and brooch see emeralds, rubies, sapphires and diamonds forming their tartan patterns
“If you are lucky enough to have lived in Paris as a young man, then wherever you go for the rest of your life, it stays with you, for Paris is a moveable feast.” – Ernest Hemingway
“You know, we have an incredible privilege: We are able to design creations that are not only absolutely amazing, but allow us to celebrate incredible moments in people’s lives. We are here for that—whether it is an appearance at the opera on a beautiful night with everybody looking at you; or a celebration of your love and wedding with an eternal sense of romantism,” Mansvelt says. “Everyone is involved in the story. Chaumet is a story, an experience, for you to share; it’s not just for show and that’s what we want,” Roccati chips in.
As anyone who is versed in the lore of Chaumet knows, the narrative and stories behind its creations take almost as much precedence as the creations themselves. Which makes less surprising the fact that a starting point for the collection can be found in Ernest Hemingway’s memoir, A Moveable Feast, published posthumously in 1964.
While this literary connection may have eluded the English-speaking community, there is doubt that the association would have escaped the French, who know the book as Paris est une Fête. And the infl uence goes beyond names and titles as well. Recounting his years as an impoverished expatriate journalist in 1920s Paris, the memoir captures the sense of joyous wonder that a young Hemingway felt for the City of Lights. The book is a celebration of Paris and its people, and finds its title from a sentiment that the American writer once shared with his friend and biographer A. E. Hotchner: “If you are lucky enough to have lived in Paris as a young man, then wherever you go for the rest of your life,it stays with you, for Paris is a moveablefeast.”
From top: The transformable Aria Passionate necklace bears 41.49 carats of rhodolite garnets and 12.75 carats of ruby cabochons from East Africa (not including its ruby beaded strands). The two drops of tourmalines on this pair of Aria Passionate earrings weigh in at 19.39 and 19.37 carats each
That sense of joy and celebration is what Chaumet has set its heart on delivering with its latest collection. But that still begs the million-dollar question: What exactly is Chaumet celebrating with its newest beauties and why?
“It’s about bringing back joy, happiness and the sense of celebration, and, of course, music, to Paris. Paris, like any capital, has good and bad moments. But if you think and speak only the bad moments, wow, it’s terrible,” Mansvelt replies enigmatically. (It’s interesting to note that Hemingway’s A Moveable Feast rose to the bestseller’s list on Amazon’s French site just days after a terrorist attack hit six locations in the city on November 2015. It was reported that Parisians were turning to the book in a defiant celebration of the culture and values that the city holds so dear.)
As Roccati adds: “It is also a reinterpretation of our own culture in a contemporary way. It’s not only a story about big stones and big money, but about culture, history, craft and creativity, as you can see here [with Chaumet est une Fête]. It’s the work that’s important; it’s the human value and that’s why we are proud of it because it’s a work of such a fantastic mastery.”
We would add that it’s fantastic mastery made all the more wondrous because of the distinct Parisian sentiment that runs through, and informs, each Chaumet est une Fête creation: It’s a celebration of joy, beauty and life at all cost. ■
INTERVIEW BY WINDY AULIA
