Chaumet: The Endless Sky of the New ‘Les Ciels de Chaumet’ Collection
The French jewellery house Chaumet has introduced a new collection of fine jewellery entitled ‘Les Ciels de Chaumet’ (‘The Heavens of Chaumet’), dedicated to the sky above us, and paintings by many great artists that have drawn inspiration from these heavens.
Since the 19th century, Chaumet craftsmen have been creating jewellery inspired by the firmament: diadems, tiaras, necklaces, brooches and ear pendants have repeatedly referred to this source of creative inspiration. Each piece – although playing on the same theme – is rich in its own unique ingenuity and symbolism. In the new collection, the heavenly stars, the shining orb of the sun, the moon’s delicate crescent, flocks of fluttering birds and even tremendous thunderclouds and lightening are reconsidered with particular elegance and seamlessly incorporated into highly modern designs.
‘Les Ciels de Chaumet’ includes bracelets, brooches, pendants, lush necklaces, cocktail rings, small studs or long earrings, as well as several watch models and even two tiaras. For the purpose of simplicity, the jewels in the collection have been divided into four main chapters. The pieces of ‘Les Caprices du Ciel’ depict the many moods of the sky, the fluffy clouds and the thunderstorm sky, ‘Les Couleurs du Soleil’ embody the sky’s plethora of rich colours ranging from the golden like sun, fiery colours of sunset and dawn, to various shades of blue at night time. ‘Les Fulgurances du Ciel’ is an ode to the stars that sparkle in the night, while ‘Les Habitants du Ciel’ is a tribute to our feathered friends who soar effortlessly overheard.
Chaumet 'Les Ciels de Chaumet' collection 'Étoiles Étoiles' necklace with diamonds in white gold
All of the jewellery in the collection is made of white, yellow or pink gold and inlaid with a myriad of precious stones to convey the variety of shades in the sky, depending on the ever-changing weather. Here you will find diamonds and chrysoberyls, multi-coloured spinels and sapphires of all kinds of shades, opals and tourmalines. As is customary in fine jewellery, some of the work is adorned by rarer gems that are impressive for their inordinate carat weight. For example, the Imperial topaz in the ‘Lueurs d’orage’ necklace weighs 37.68 carats, the Ceylon gold sapphire in the ‘Nuages d’or’ necklace weighs in at 12.88 carats, the Fancy Intense Yellow diamond in the ‘Soleil Glorieux’ ring reaches 8.43 carats, while the spessartine garnet in the ‘Soleil de Feu’ pendant necklace totals 18.30 carats.
Chaumet 'Les Ciels de Chaumet' collection 'Passages' necklace with 28.11ct Australian black opal, accenting black opals, Paraiba tourmalines, tourmalines and diamonds in rose and white gold
Undoubtedly, my favourite piece of this collection is the colourful and extremely expressive ‘Passages’ necklace, made of white and pink gold with 6 Australian black oval cut opals, the largest of which weighs a staggering 28.11 carats. The piece is complemented by Brazilian Paraiba and Mozambique Paraiba-type tourmalines in various shades, as well as diamonds. All of the stones are laid out in planned colour order – a beautiful composition that conveys a sense of gradation. It forms something truly breath-taking. The inspiration for this series was Vincent Van Gogh’s 1890 ‘Wheat Field with Crows’. The design of this necklace is echoed in several accompanying earrings and a ring.
No less impressive – albeit very different in appearance – is the effect produced by the ‘Soleil Glorieux’ tiara, inspired by the painting ‘The Sower with Setting Sun’ (1888), also by Van Gough. It is adorned with a 2.51 carat yellow cushion cut Fancy Intense diamond, as well as colourless diamonds and rock crystals.
Chaumet 'Les Ciels de Chaumet' collection 'Soliel de Minuit' watch with Grand Feu enamel by Anita Porchet, diamonds, sapphires, tourmalines, spinels and garnets in white gold
The ‘Envol’ necklace (meaning ‘Flight’), decorated by three small soaring birds, conveys a mood of serenity and life at its most peaceful. It is made of white and yellow gold and adorned with pear-shaped diamonds ranging in size from 2.02 carats to 0.72 carats. We also find marquise cut tsavorites, round yellow and green sapphires, as well as brilliant cut diamonds. As earlier, there are a number of other pieces that play on the same theme: rings, earrings and brooches. The inspiration here is Joseph Chaumet’s sketches from the 1880s and 1890s, which can be found in the jewellery house’s archives.
As is evident, behind each piece in this collection, there is a rich history not only of the jewellery house Chaumet, but also of the world of fine art from which the collection draws its inspiration. ‘Les Ciels de Chaumet’ is enormously diverse: one kind of creativity flows seamlessly into another, and gives rise to masterpieces of amazing beauty.
WORDS
Katerina Perez With more than 12 years’ experience in the jewellery sector, Katerina’s expert knowledge spans everything from retail sales and management to content creation, including brand building, jewellery writing and styling. Born and raised in St Petersburg, Katerina’s favourite hobby as a child was playing with the treasures in her grandmother's jewellery box, inspiring a lifelong love of jewellery from a very early age. She spent five years in St Petersburg University of Culture and Arts studying not journalism but business studies and languages, and her writing skills have developed as her passion for her favourite subject – jewellery – has grown. This is why her writing comes straight from the heart rather than the pages of a book. Daughter of an entrepreneur mother, Katerina exchanged her retail management job for jewellery writing in 2013 and hasn’t looked back since.
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