For this season’s High Jewelry collection, Patrice Leguéreau, director of the Chanel jewelry creation studio, presents “Escale à Venise”. Composed of 70 exceptional pieces, these high jewelry treasures offer a contemporary interpretation of Gabrielle Chanel’s discovery of the Floating City. A tribute to one of Mademoiselle’s favorite destinations, Escale à Venise features the icons of CHANEL as seen through the prism of La Sérénissime today. The sculptural aspect of these extraordinary stones imbues this ensemble with an aesthetic that is as precious as it is powerful.
The 70 pieces are split within 4 catégories:
La Sérénissime
Celebrating the architectural wealth of Venice, the Eblouissante set of jewelry is composed of white and pink geometric designs, in a unique interpretation of the facades of the palaces and the polychromatic marble floors of the churches. On a rose gold and platine structure, the necklace, with its perfect drop, features a staggered motif set with baguette diamonds echoing the quilting so dear to Gabrielle Chanel. In a neo-baroque style, the Sérénissime set revives the Byzantine spirit of the mosaics of the “golden basilica” in a contemporary light.
Like this plastron composed of onyx and diamond squares, of pink, yellow and orange sapphire tesserae as well as spessartine garnets that reflect the light over a 27.09 carat oval mandarin sapphire, itself haloed by a shower of diamonds. A powerfully constructed ring bears a cross in onyx, yellow and mandarin sapphires and diamonds topped with a scintillating 6.04 carat pink Padparadscha sapphire.
Gran Canale
Four sets with a particular fluidity reflect the elegance of the nautical world. Volute Vénitienne draws inspiration from the white and blue mooring poles used by the gondolas. Here, they appear in lapis lazuli and diamonds, punctuating a three-strand sautoir necklace made up of pearls and yellow gold links. In the same chromatic harmony and volume, Volute Marine also features this element of the lagoon on a lapis lazuli and diamond pendant suspended from a rail setting of diamond stars. It is accompanied by a pair of earrings and a bangle with a plain and striped asymmetrical tessellation on which sits an emblematic comet in yellow gold joined to a 1 carat pear-shaped diamond.
In red and white, the mooring poles lend their diagonal striping to Volute Croisière. On a spectacular sautoir necklace, red spinels and diamonds are mounted to create a twisted effect, similar to the ropes that anchor the gondolas. A bangle holds a star and a 2.13 carat oval diamond within its threads.
Isole della Laguna
In an ode to the Métiers d’art, the lagoon islands have inspired three sets dedicated to Gabrielle Chanel’s favorite flower, the camellia. Camélia Byzantin celebrates the ancient mosaics present on the island of Torcello with a breath-taking necklace made of hard stones. Their irregular outline exalts the beauty of a red camellia in carnelians and fire opals. Its pistil is composed of a 10.07 carat yellow diamond.
For Camélia Vénitien, CHANEL has translated the glass work for which the island of Murano is known, into the world of high jewelry, using rock crystal combined with yellow gold. Cut from this translucent gem, the fetish flower is embellished with garlands at the heart of an immaculate plastron reminiscent of the ornamentation of the Venetian mirrors in Gabrielle Chanel’s apartment on rue Cambon. This necklace is punctuated with a 1.5 carat round diamond. A foliage ring adorned with a round diamond, a pair of asymmetric earrings and a jewelled watch admirably complete this set.
Spirito di Venezia
The spirit of Venice is expressed through the personality of the lion that reigns supreme over the city. After the first high jewellery collection of 2013 dedicated to Gabrielle Chanel’s astrological sign, the feline now appears in five distinguished sets. The monochromatic Lion Secret necklace shows the profile of two white gold beasts set with pear and shuttle-cut diamonds watching over a 15.55 carat pear-shaped diamond. Like a bas-relief, this unique duo appears on a supple bracelet composed of diamond links.
Lion Secret plays the color card on a three-strand sautoir necklace. It combines red spinel beads and lapis lazuli beads with two sovereign lions whose pelage consists of yellow sapphires. This necklace is accompanied by a stunning bracelet that reflects fluidity and strength with the baroque lion medallion. The sky where the winged lion appears on the façade of Saint Mark’s Basilica, is transposed by CHANEL onto the Constellation Astrale set. The result is a nocturnal necklace carved from a powerful lapis lazuli mosaic. The central star is set with 4.47 carat yellow sapphire that shimmers on a nebula of stars, also found on a bracelet and a pair of earrings in majestic relief. Finally, the blue gem, faceted like a diamond, forms a starry ring set with a 4.25 carat cushion cut yellow sapphire.