CHANEL “COROMANDEL” HIGH JEWELLERY COLLECTION, PARIS COUTURE WEEK 2018
Hot on the heels of Paris Haute Couture and four days of fashion shows comes the latest collections of high jewellery from many of the world’s top jewellery brands like Buccellati, Dior, Chanel, De Beers, Piaget, Chaumet, Van Cleef & Arpels, Chopard, Louis Vuitton, David Yurman, Ana Khouri, Lydia Courteille and more. To fully embrace this event and give you a real sense of the jewellery I tried on, I put together some video highlights for GEMOLOGUE IGTV. It’s an exclusive event open only to clients and journalists and a great honour to attend. I hope you enjoy my curation of new jewellery discoveries from Paris Haute Couture.
As soon as I stepped into the Grand Palais to see the new CHANEL high jewellery exhibition 2018, my heart skipped a beat. I haven’t been this excited since my CHANEL jewelry editorial. I can see why this is a favourite venue for Karl Lagerfeld’s haute couture shows; it’s simply breathtaking. From the palatial staircase entranceway to an immersive light installation, the jewels weren’t the only thing sparkling in the dark! Experience it for yourself and watch my video on GEMOLOGUE IGTV.
The new CHANEL high jewellery collection called Coromandel was inspired by Coco’s favourite item of decor – her beloved ornate lacquered screens that she collected whilst travelling with her true love, Boy Capel.
“The first time i saw a coromandel screen, I cried out: it’s so beautiful! I had never said that about any other object.” Gabrielle Chanel
She found their dreamy landscapes utterly charming, with sailing ships, palaces, gardens full of flowers and birds in mother-of-pearl, deep reds and golds against the dark night of the Chinese lacquer screen. Gabrielle Chanel owned more than 30 screens and carried them everywhere she travelled so she always felt at home.
“I’m like a snail,” she confided to Claude Delay. “I carry my house with me… Two Chinese screens, books everywhere. I’ve never been able to live in an open house. The first thing I look for is screens.”
For the first time in CHANEL jewellery history, Gabrielle’s Coromandel screens are the motif for this new fine jewellery collection. Featuring 59 pieces (24 entirely unique), the COROMANDEL collection draws upon the design elements of the screens, such as the folding panels in the reversible cuff below. Each screen holds beautiful scenic depictions of life in lands far away, mythical China, Imperial Cathay, and the Coromandel Coast of East India. These elements are picked up in the design with the coromandel making an appearance alongside mother-of-pearl clouds and diamond camellia flowers.
I remember from my Chanel Apartment Tour at 31 Rue Cambone, how much it was like stepping into a mirage with 17th and 18th century Coromandel screens reflected back in the mirrors, creating a world stretching across the oceans and centuries.
The CHANEL Coromandel high jewellery collection is a magical journey into the precious universe of Gabrielle Chanel. It shows an incredibly sensitive and imaginative reworking of the CHANEL high jewellery collection. From the CHANEL high jewelry Cafe Society collection to the CHANEL Camellia Jewelry collection, the tireless ingenuity of CHANEL Fine Jewelry workshop is exciting and the COROMANDEL haute jewellery collection is awe-inspiring.
CHANEL Évocation Florale necklace in white gold and diamonds
The floral theme inspires a cuff that is entirely reversible, and reworks the geometric structure of the screens. The cuff includes a yellow diamond that pivots, so as to remain always visible on the wrist.
CHANEL Recto / Verso bracelet sapphires and onyx
The mineral theme is inscribed in the “Horizon Lointain” plastron necklace in yellow gold, dotted with clouds of mother-of-pearl and diamond (including one central six-carat diamond) that evoke a Coromandel landscape.
I would love to hear what you think by leaving me a comment below. Thank you!
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I am extremely happy to announce that my new jewelry book – GEMOLOGUE: Street Jewellery Styles & Styling Tips – is now on Amazon. I’m so excited. It’s the first book of its kind solely dedicated to jewellery.
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GEMOLOGUE by Liza Urla is a celebration of fine, fashion and vintage jewellery featuring exquisite global discoveries, trendy urban street style, exclusive interviews and rare jewellery reviews.
GEMOLOGUE jewelry blog by Liza Urla is featuring talented jewellery designers, trendy urban street style, exclusive interviews and rare jewellery reviews. This jewellery blog’s goal is to encourage and educate about jewellery online in a fresh and original fashion to inspire women and men across the globe in a fashion and travelling context.
Jewellery blogger, writer Liza Urla, the founder of GEMOLOGUE, is a London-based and NYC-educated gemologist, who has travelled to and lived in many countries. She is now one of the most influential digital jewellery tastemakers. Her jewellery influence has been acknowledged by Financial Times, Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar.
*Photographed by Julia Flit. Styling and Art Direction by Liza Urla. All photos belong to GEM Kreatives for GEMOLOGUE.
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