This week, during Paris Haute Couture, we’re taking a look at the stunning high jewelry collections from houses like Gucci, Louis Vuitton, LOEWE, Cindy Chao, and Piaget. From a floral garden to the sculptural work of Lynda Benglis, these maison’s found inspiration in nature, shape, and exquisite stones.
Gucci High Jewelry Evokes the Beauties of an Italian Garden
Courtesy of Gucci.
Courtesy of Gucci.
Gucci’s new Labirinti Gucci collection is based on three foundations: symmetry and ordered beauty, geometric splendor, and blooming nature. The assortment is made up of 140 unique creations, celebrating the balance between instinct and passion.
Named after the notion of “labyrinths,” Gucci takes us on a journey of surprise, as if wandering through a majestic garden. The Italian-style garden, or Giardini all’italiana, informs the collection’s emphasis on playing with the symmetry of its gemstones. The high jewelry collection features rings, earrings, necklaces, cuffs, and dragonfly brooches, all as a playful yet classic interpretation of the maison’s home country’s gardens
One necklace, with a 56.37-carat oval-cut green tourmaline piece, is further embellished with 11 additional tourmalines that provide balance. Other pieces, like a 28.07-carat spinel necklace, juxtaposes a floral blooming design with a straight chain, and while asymmetrical, provides a dynamic descent of tourmaline rubellite beads.
LOEWE Blends The Beauty of Sculpture and Jewelry with Lynda Benglis
Courtesy of LOEWE.
Courtesy of LOEWE.
For their latest high jewelry collection, LOEWE collaborated with artist Lynda Benglis, known for her intricate and innovative sculpture work and manipulation of material. The collection contains 20 jewelry designs that originally debuted at LOEWE’s Spring/Summer 2024 Women’s runway in Paris.
Each piece is based off of Benglis’ original maquette sculptures, transformed into rings, cuffs, brooches, earrings, and pendants. Materials range from 18-carat gold, sterling silver, aluminum, enamel, and crystal. The collection is a vision of sculptural beauty, in a range of experimental yet timelessly elegant forms.
The pieces align precisely with Benglis’ approach to her work: playing with matter and subject in a variety of forms, creating sculpture designs into wearable jewelry. One recurring design in the collection is the glitter fragment, providing imagery of dynamic glistening crystals that are constantly in motion.
Cindy Chao Celebrates the Jeweler’s 20th Anniversary
Courtesy of Cindy Chao.
Courtesy of Cindy Chao.
With her now two-decade-old eponymous brand Cindy Chao The Art Jewel, Cindy Chao uplifts her successes and pays homage to her personal artistic journey in the high jewelry world with her Four Seasons-inspired Leaf Brooches, as well as the latest group of Dragonfly Brooches.
In collaboration with 12 European master craftsmen who worked under microscopes spanning between 20 to 60 times magnification, Chao recreated the ambient nature of leaves for her brooch design. The pieces replicate a leaf’s natural creases, shadow and light gradients, curvatures, and color transitions.
Branching out from Cindy Chao’s Annual Butterfly collection, the 20th-anniversary Dragonfly Brooches underscore Chao’s role in championing meticulous artistry in the realm of high jewelry. Adorned with vibrant jewels including sapphire, garnet, diamond, and spinel, the Dragonfly Brooches are collectively colored with over 50 stone hues and over 13 different gemstones. Tracing the delicate lines of these dragonflies’ membranes, tendons, and joints, Chao has captured the essence of the rapidly-flying creature with her continuous commitment to exquisite craftsmanship.
Piaget Marks 150 Years of History With its Latest Watches and Jewelry
Courtesy of Piaget.
Courtesy of Piaget.
To celebrate the high jeweler’s 150th anniversary, Piaget presents its newest high jewelry collection, “Essence of Extraleganza.” The title is a blend of “extravagance” and “elegance,” as the maison reflects on its creativity and innovative eye. The collection features a range of boldly-colored jewelry and watch timepieces adorned in precious and vibrant crystal that are a testament to Piaget’s 150 years of excellence.
With their collection, Piaget shines a light on the maison’s rich history and journey as a high jeweler and watchmaker. From its founding in 1874, Piaget has experimented with a range of jewelry and watch designs, including asymmetry and mixed stone cuts.
As a renowned watchmaker, Piaget debuted a new watch formed with coiled gold ropes and 26.11 carats of rare Colombian green emeralds. The watch further emphasizes the maison’s savoir-faire, and is accompanied by a complimentary ring and asymmetrical earrings.
Louis Vuitton Looks Back to 19th Century France
Photo ©Thomas-Legrand, courtesy of Louis Vuitton.
Photo ©Nathaniel-Goldberg, courtesy of Louis Vuitton.
Louis Vuitton’s “Awakened Hands, Awakened Minds” high jewelry collection features 220 masterpiece jewels among 13 different themes, all of which celebrate the artistry of the maison’s home nation. “France in the 19th century was a phenomenal time of incredible change, and when Paris really became the center of the world,” said Francesca Amfitheatrof, Louis Vuitton’s Artistic Director for Watches and Jewelry. “The design language of Awakened Hands, Awakened Minds reflects that—all its intricacies, complications and innovations—turned into incredible jewels.”
The maison’s journey back in time stretches to 16-year-old Louis Vuitton’s arrival in Paris in 1837, and its collection tells the story of their founder’s journey in the growing French city. The new collection embraces the entrepreneur’s innovative approach to travel box-making, as they shine a light on the era as a renaissance of creative ambition.
One necklace in the collection, entitled “Vision,” is a prime example of Louis Vuitton’s ode to both French history and the maison’s savoir-faire. The necklace includes interlacing platinum, yellow gold and yellow sapphires that both resemble the 19th-century railway boom and Louis Vuitton’s connection to travel.
