With Europe in the midst of a mixture of digital and physical shows, in what is an unprecedented season, Parisian jewellery house Chaumet presented its latest high jewellery collection, Perspectives de Chaumet, at its 1881 Heritage Hong Kong flagship boutique. Following the Trésors d’Ailleurs rings, unveiled at the beginning of 2020 to mark the reopening of 12 Place Vendôme on the Maison’s 240th anniversary (Chaumet was the first Parisian jeweller to open on Place Vendôme, in 1780), Perspectives de Chaumet continues to pay tribute to the Maison’s heritage and celebrate one of its major sources of inspiration since it was founded: architecture.
The new high jewellery collection is composed of 81 pieces divided into six aesthetics (having made its debut in Paris last July, some of the pieces have been sold along the way). Inspired by the beauty and grandeur of architectural design around the world, from the magnificence of the Italian Renaissance to the bold lines of Futurism and Constructivism, each of these six themes combine a unique vision with a refined design and carefully selected stones.
Skyline
Skyline has an asymmetric and deconstructed approach. The jewels in this parure reinterpret the iconic architecture of contemporary cities while also paying tribute to the avant-garde creations that Pierre Sterlé (known as the “couturier of jewellery”) designed for the Maison from the 1930s onwards.
Lux
Lux is a tribute to Italian Renaissance, with its polychromatic domes that open to the sky, glorified by the power of light and sun. It is an ode to the art of colour enhanced by flamboyant stones such as opals, sapphires, aquamarines and topazes.
Lacis
Lacis, as its name indicates, showcases more symmetrical and delicate jewellery. It recalls the stone latticework and mashrabiyas of contemporary architecture through a modern reinterpretation of diamond mesh – one of Chaumet’s historic signatures. This lightness is achieved by the crossing of fils couteau mountings which appears to render the metal structure invisible in order to put the sparkling stones in the limelight.
Ondulation
Ondulation is inspired by deconstructivist architecture, and once again evokes Chaumet jewellery of the 1970’s, featuring yellow gold worked in unique light textures that celebrate the art of movement.
Mirage
Mirage is an ode to constantly moving structures, whether nomadic tents or marine sails. As the centrepiece, the Mirage tiara revisits the Maison’s tradition of transformable jewels. Composed of two superimposed sections that can be worn individually or combined, this creation offers three options of wearing. Another masterpiece of this parure is the secret watch, yet another tribute to historic Chaumet creations.
Labyrinth
Lastly, Labyrinth echoes the bold volumes of the Maison’s creations from the first decades of the 20th century by exploring and playing with angles, lines and circles. It is inspired by the search for abstract beauty, in the manner of Russian constructivism or Italian futurism.
Through the six parures of this high jewellery collection, Chaumet masters the balance of light, perspective, lines, volumes, and space with a unique savoir-faire. Travelling may be on hold for much of this year but the exquisite tiaras, jewels and timepieces in Perspectives de Chaumet, and the stories they tell by honouring major international architectural movements and sites, certainly have us dreaming of places far and wide.
Editor
Camila Hennessy
