Mellerio dits Meller: The new Secrets de Lys collection

Most of the large jewellery houses have their own signature flower: Piaget has the rose, Chanel the camelia and Chaumet the hortensia, but Mellerio dits Meller has the queen of flowers and the flower of queens: the lily. In its latest high jewellery collection Secrets de Lys, this flower has once more come into bloom.

The collection includes five floral works: stud earrings, cuff earrings, a bracelet and two richly designed necklaces. These are a continuation of a lily flower – fleur de lis – theme already started by Mellerio dits Meller. This blossoming white flower bud has long served as an insignia of the rulers of France and now the flower is a favourite of the historic French maison.

As was the case last season, the current Mellerio dits Meller collection is dedicated to the French queen Marie de Médicis. The ruler was renowned for her love of precious stones and jewellery in which, incidentally, she was well versed. NTV reporter Alexander Kalinin wrote: “Paintings, busts, gold, faceted precious stones, crystal, marble – the Medici family certainly had taste; one might even say they had a sense of what was truly valuable. But the name Medici is not just synonymous with beautiful objects. The people who created these works were equally valuable to the famous dynasty. Michelangelo designed the facade of their family church, Botticelli painted for them, Raphael and Titian thanked their patrons with family portraits.” Meanwhile the Italian Mellerio family, under the patronage of the same queen, made her wonderful pieces.

Look at the maison’s modern creations such as the Secrets de Lys sautoir (below). This piece, made with platinum and a magnificent bright yellow diamond, would be just as effective if worn by an emperor of the past or a born aristocrat of the present. I was primarily fascinated not only by the chic 15 carat stone in the sautoir but also by the unconventional design decisions taken. As in the previous masterpieces of Dentelles de Lys, the precious ornaments of Secret de Lys were not put at the front but rather fall towards the chest in two parallel circular lines. It’s possible to cross these over each other if you like or to simply wear the necklace in a completely new way, with a yellow diamond on your neck or hefty golden twists around your spine. Because I managed to make it to a preview of the collection in Paris, I was able to experiment with the necklace to my heart’s content.

And last but not least, I should also mention that the high jewellery collection Secrets de Lys is complemented by diamond ear cuffs (on the right). Here we have another bold design decision, don’t we? Considering that modern jewellery art has already been breaking away from tradition for several years now, any innovations in the high jewellery industry can only be encouraged.