Animal-themed at Van Cleef & Arpels

Early in the year, L’École Van Cleef & Arpels, the education division of the fine jewelry brand, displayed a collection of 15 jewels and seven decorative objects by Harumi Klossowska de Rola.

The display called “Retour D’Expedition,” (Return Shipping) featured jewel-encrusted, animal-themed pieces, including a bracelet of a cat catching his tail, forged from ivory and white gold with an ebony, white and yellow diamond finish, and a large, owl-shaped single earring with quivering feathers crafted from discs of 24-karat gold. Also on display was an impressive trio of eagle head rings, carved from Ankole cow horn or petrified wood, with gold and diamond intrusions.

“I have always been fascinated by the animal world because, to me, it represents a link between us and nature,” de Rola said. “I think humans have forgotten the importance of the natural world. My art — which I try to give a life of its own — is a way of seeing if we can find our way back.”

Chanel pays tribute to founder

At Chanel on the Place Vendôme in Paris, a new collection gave tribute to the early life of its founder, Gabrielle Bonheur “Coco” Chanel, and the women who supported her before she became famous.

In the collection “Coco avant Chanel,” each of the jewels was named for an individual, and largely crafted from the signature materials of the Chanel studio, including pearls, ribbons and lace.

The Jeanne necklace — named for Jeanne Dirys, a silent movie actress — had an intricate lacelike white gold setting with more than 100 pink sapphires, 82 gray spinels and 650 diamonds. The Suzanne ring — named for the socialite Suzanne Orlandi, the first woman to wear an original Chanel garment — featured rosy pink padparadscha sapphires and gray moonstone cabochons.

Also on display were some less elaborate earrings and necklaces made from classic strings of pearls, and finished with dainty diamond bows.

Chaumet honored the ancient bow

The jewelers of Chaumet focused on the tension within a bow, a traditional gift among French aristocracy symbolizing both romantic and filial affection.

In honor of this ancient weapon, Chaumet created pieces with supple rose gold rope chains delicately intertwined with white gold and diamond ribbons, which then unwound themselves from earlobes, around fingers and on wrists.

Secret watches on display

Watch lovers would revel in Milanese jeweler Giampiero Bodino’s creations, who created a rock ’n’ roll couture watch of geometric shapes with black spinels and white diamonds.

Boucheron creative director, Claire Choisne, displayed her “secret” timepiece behind a leaf on an intricate diamond pavé bracelet. And Victoire de Castellane, Dior’s creative director of fine jewelry, created eight —referencing Christian Dior’s lucky number — different watches using her favorite gemstone, the opal.

“I don’t want these to be known as secret watches,” de Castellane stated. “They are more than that. This is jewelry that tells the time, and a time no one else can see.”

De Beers’s diamond buffet

At De Beers, diamonds were on display in a range of brilliant carats and colors, including white, yellow and brown (plus one that morphed according to the light). “They were laid out so temptingly, either loose or in simple ring settings, it was hard not to reach out and touch,” said New York Times Fashion & Style writer, Elizabeth Paton.

Source: New York Times Fashion & Style