FROM FAUNA TO FLORA, A TRIBUTE TO NATURAL TREASURES REVEALED THROUGH SAVOIR-FAIRE EXCELLENCE
Blending wonders generously provided by nature and jewellery made by artisans, Jewels by Nature, the Maison’s new High Jewellery collection, pays tribute to treasures of flora and fauna. Offering a vision of the living world as a precious gift to be appreciated, preserved and passed on, it tells a tale of nature connected in all its forms: by turns everlasting, ephemeral and reviving, all punctuated by winged figures such as the bee. Inspired by the humblest and noblest species alike, each of the fifty-four pieces in the collection reflect the harmonious and respectful link Chaumet has perpetuated with nature since its founding 245 years ago.
EVERLASTING
THE FIRST CHAPTER OPENS WITH EVERLASTING FLORA WHOSE ETERNALLY RENEWED LIFE CYCLE PROVIDES A CONTINUED SOURCE OF INSPIRATION. UNTAMED VARIETIES, SUCH AS WILD ROSE, CLOVER AND FERN, ALONG WITH THE FIELD STAR WHICH LIVES AMONG OATS. PROLIFIC PLANTS WITH DISTINCT IDENTITIES. EVERLASTING
CHAPTER 1
Wild Rose
INSPIRED BY AN ARCHIVAL TIARA, THIS PARURE SPOTLIGHTS THE WILD ROSE’S MULTITUDE OF GOLDEN YELLOW STAMENS BY INCORPORATING THE MOST REMARKABLE YELLOW DIAMONDS.
DRAWING ON THE MAISON’S HERITAGE, THE WILD ROSE PARURE IS INSPIRED BY ONE OF ITS MASTERPIECES FROM THE ROARING TWENTIES: THE WILD ROSE LEAF TIARA, CREATED BY JOSEPH CHAUMET IN 1922.
With botanical precision, natural pearls represent closed buds. The contemporary parure is adorned with remarkable yellow diamonds, such as the 8.23-carat Fancy Vivid Yellow VS2 stone illuminating a necklace that can be worn three different ways, all with a single clasp; its realisation required nearly 1,500 hours in the workshop. The more sophisticated suggestion of leaves articulated to each other is matched by a more pared-down alternative in the form of a diamond-set aigrette. Highlighted by a square-cut stone that brings the gem to life, a transformable ring adorns the hand with delicately indented petals at the heart of which sparkles a 5.02-carat Fancy Vivid Yellow VS1 diamond, which can be worn as a solitaire. The matching earrings dazzle with two intense yellow diamonds of 2.60 and 2.68 carats each, in a further expression of this luxuriant and colourful nature.
Oat and Field Star
ECHOING THE MAISON’S LONG TRADITION OF GOLDSMITHING, THE PARURE DEPICTS A LANDSCAPE OF OATS AND FIELD STARS UNDULATING IN THE WIND.
The virtuosity of the 12 Vendôme workshop shines through once again in a sumptuous necklace whose highly technical assembly entailed over 1,300 hours of work. Fully articulated and enhanced with diamonds, the yellow gold oat inflorescences contrast with the field stars. Chiselled in white gold, they glitter with yellow diamonds, including three cushion-cut stones totalling 8.32 carats.
The signature lightness of the Chaumet style animates the transformable asymmetrical earrings. Intentionally designed so that the gold wire of the ear cuff tops the ear with a bouquet of oats that can be removed, the more classic or more elaborate effects that result respond to the wearer’s desires. This delicacy also inspires a transformable brooch that can be equally gracefully worn as a hair ornament or pinned on clothing.
Clover and Fern
A DIALOGUE BETWEEN CLOVER AND FERN, THE PARURE MAGNIFIES TWO EMBLEMATIC MOTIFS FROM THE CHAUMET STYLISTIC REPERTOIRE, COMBINING EXCEPTIONAL DIAMONDS AND EMERALDS.
TINTED WITH THREE UNOILED COLOMBIAN EMERALDS TOTALLING 11.63 CARATS, CLOVER LEAVES BLOOM ON A CARPET OF FERNS TO SHAPE A SWEEPING NECKLACE
Occupying a prominent place in the Chaumet heritage, the clover inspired a charming translucent green enamel and diamond brooch created by Jules Fossin in 1853, and now held in the Maison’s permanent collection. Reflecting the naturalism embedded in the Maison’s roots, the workshop’s mounters turned botanists to create a botanical duo.
Worked in layers, very fine sections of white gold convey the plant’s graceful character, while the diamonds combine cut-down, bezel and illusion settings. Placed here and there on a necklace that took nearly 1,250 hours to make, four-leaf clovers invite the wearer to seek out the one that will bring the most luck.
Evoking the colour of clover, exceptional emeralds adorn the various creations. A 5.19-carat pear displays its silky green on a ring whose fern leaves hug the gem as closely as possible, concealing the claws, while two stones weighing 3.41 and 3.24 carats are set onto earrings. Completing the parure, a fourleaf motif also reappears as a pendant on a fine double chain that can be transformed into a luck bringing brooch.
EPHEMERAL
CHAPTER 2
THE SECOND CHAPTER PAYS TRIBUTE TO EPHEMERAL NATURE. SHORT-LIVED BLOOMS, SUCH AS THOSE OF THE SWORD-LILY, CARNATION, AND SWEETSHRUB, PROVIDE INFINITELY POETIC SPECTACLES. LIKE THE SAVOIR-FAIRE THE MAISON IS COMMITTED TO PROTECTING, THIS PRECIOUS YET THREATENED SLICE OF NATURE INSPIRES DELICATE PARURES.
Carnation
EXCEPTIONALLY DRAPED IN SIGNATURE CHAUMET BLUE, A HUE IN WHICH NO CARNATION NATURALLY EXISTS, THE PARURE REPRESENTS A HIGHLY POETIC CONTEMPORARY DISTILLATION OF THE FLOWER’S GRACEFULNESS.
DEMANDING NEARLY 1,500 HOURS OF WORK, THIS SUMPTUOUS TRANSFORMABLE NECKLACE SUGGESTS A BUCOLIC MEADOW, EACH LINK SET WITH TWO SAPPHIRES. THE RESULT IS A PRECIOUS MESH, A SIGNATURE CHAUMET STYLISTIC CODE.
Designed in honour of the flower, the piece perfectly follows the lines and movements of the body, offering a sensual suppleness. Six frilly carnations reveal a skilful dégradé of custom-cut gems, from deep to sky blue, requiring nearly eight weeks of work with three shades of sapphires. Positioned for trompe l’oeil effect, the gems form a kite shape that recalls the buds on the mesh of the necklace. The jewel’s bold and assertive “V” shape alludes to the aigrette motif, one of the Maison’s signatures. Set as a drop, an exceptional 36.44-carat Ceylon sapphire, which can be detached to be worn alone on a diamond-set chain, provides a very intense and deep blue.
A jewelled ring topped with a 20.04-carat oval stone testifies to the excellence of 12 Vendôme, as do the diamond calyx earrings featuring two sapphires of 8.78 and 8.80 carats each.
Sword-lily
DAZZLING WITH RAVISHING MOZAMBIQUE RUBIES, THE SWORD-LILY IS SUBLIMATED BY A PARURE WHOSE DIAMOND VINES ECHO THE ENTWINED MANNER IN WHICH CHAUMET OFTEN REPRESENTS NATURE.
ON A SUMPTUOUS NECKLACE INVOLVING OVER 1,500 HOURS OF WORK, THREE FLOWERS, FREED FROM THEIR STEMS, REST ALONG THE NECKLINE.
Vine-like diamond lacings wrap around the neck. Enhanced by the fil couteau technique, which seems to almost make the metal disappear, seven remarkable Mozambique rubies totalling 14.03 carats look like they’re levitating.
A pair of ruby-studded earrings echoes the effect, ref lecting this same emblematic savoir-faire. Composed of two bands that can be worn together or separately, with or without the inf lorescence, a ring showcases a beautiful 5.09-carat cushion-cut stone of an intense red tinged with bright pink.
The sword-lily motif also graces a secret watch. When opened, the cover reveals the two overlapping f lowers that adorn it, whose ruby hearts appear protected by the petals. Its blazing colour matches the translucent red of the dial worked with grand feu enamel by the specialist in this artistic craft, Anita Porchet, and through which a hand-realised guilloché appears.
Sweetshrub
IN KEEPING WITH THE MAISON’S PEARL TRADITION, THE PARURE COMBINES EXCEPTIONAL PEARLS, SAPPHIRES AND SPINELS, PRODUCING A PINK DÉGRADÉ AKIN TO A WATERCOLOUR.
Ever since 2,990 pearls were set on Pope Pius VII’s tiara by MarieÉtienne Nitot in 1805, the Maison has distinguished itself through the creativity of its pearl jewellery, of which the transformable Sweetshrub necklace is the latest example. Its perfectly matched 10mm-diameter freshwater pearls possess a magnificent pink lustre. In its centre blooms a f lower that can be worn as a brooch, hosting an exceptional gem at its heart: a 44.23-carat cushion-cut spinel of a deep pink hue shot through with a hint of violet.
Topped by a 14.41-carat cushion erupting from petals also dazzling with a delicate dégradé of stones, a ring matches earrings set with 4.68 and 4.50-carat spinels. A great lover of flowers, the butterfly flutters its way into the parure where it inspires two brooches. Represented in profile, as if in full flight, the two insects respond to each other gracefully, the first coloured from the centre out, the second from the outside in.
CHAPTER 3
REVIVING
IN THE THIRD CHAPTER, FOUR SPECIES TREASURED BY EMPRESS JOSÉPHINE – MAGNOLIA, IRIS, DAHLIA AND WATER LILY – CELEBRATE RESURGENT NATURE, RESURFACING AT FAR ENDS OF THE EARTH OR REAPPEARING WITH THE SEASONS. CAPTURED FROM LIFE, BLUE TITS AND DRAGONFLIES ARE PORTRAYED BY THE HIGH JEWELLERY IN FULL FLIGHT OR ALIGHTING ON THE PARURES.
Magnolia
Grandiflora
CONTEMPLATING THE MAGNOLIA IN ALL ITS PROFUSION, THIS DIAMOND PARURE OFFERS A NATURALISTIC TAKE ON THE PLANT, PORTRAYED AS IT BLOSSOMS.
INTERPRETED AS A RADIANT YELLOW GOLD BLOOM, THE MAGNOLIA ALREADY APPEARED IN 2023’S LE JARDIN DE CHAUMET HIGH JEWELLERY COLLECTION. THIS NEW REIMAGINING FAVOURS AN ALL-DIAMOND NATURALISTIC APPROACH.
From the leaf as a brooch sparkling with more than 8 carats to the bouquet of petals in a ring with an expansive top, it reveals the plant’s different stages of life.
An immaculate brooch showcases a luscious flower enhanced by snow setting, while its fleshy leaves sparkle with lines of pavé diamonds for a more graphic rendering. A more pared-down version of the bloom adorns an impressive necklace punctuated by a 5.26-carat D FL type IIa pear-shaped diamond set as a drop, a technical feat involving nearly 1,150 hours of meticulous craftsmanship.
Worked in volume, with a subtle interior and exterior pavé, the magnolia blossoms on a contemporary interpretation of a signature Chaumet tiara. Positioned on the side, the flower motif unfurls onto a 2.02-carat pearshaped stone, and is conceived to be worn off-centre, like a bandeau.
PLAYING WITH ASYMMETRY, EAR CUFFS WITH REMOVABLE GOLD WIRE EXPRESS THE EMBLEMATIC LIGHTNESS OF THE CHAUMET STYLE, AS DO A PAIR OF DIAMOND DROP EARRINGS.
A blue tit brooch ref lects the mastery of the Maison’s mounters who have made upclose studies of the plumage, transcribing the colour of its outstretched wings in lines of grain-set feathers. Captured in an azure dive, the bird reveals a one-carat, pear-cut diamond delicately buried in its plumage.
Fairy Iris
APPEARING AS THOUGH IT MAY HAVE ESCAPED FROM A WORK BY PIERRE-JOSEPH REDOUTÉ, EMPRESS JOSÉPHINE’S BOTANICAL PAINTER, THIS PARURE CAPTURES THE DELICACY OF A WILD IRIS ANIMATED BY THE BREEZE, AND ACCENTED WITH POETIC DRAGONFLIES.
WHILE THE HIGH JEWELLERY COLLECTION LE JARDIN DE CHAUMET OFFERED AN INTERPRETATION OF THE FLOWER THAT VERGED ON THE MOUTH-WATERING, HIGHLIGHTING ITS LUSCIOUS TEXTURE, JEWELS BY NATURE SERVES TO DISTIL ITS POETRY.
The magical effect of pavé-set gems is appropriate to the species’ name. Five f lowers delicately sculpted in gold, petal by petal, rest on rivières of intertwined diamonds highlighting the pastel shades of blue, purple and pink Vietnamese spinels totalling 24.36 carats.
The iris also unfurls upon an asymmetrical ring set with a beautiful 6.10-carat purple spinel that dialogues with enchanting drop earrings. Matching their own aerial ballet to the flower animated by the whims of the wind, two dragonflies become brooches, one illuminated with coloured sapphires, the second sparkling in diamonds with raindrop-shaped claws.
Dahlia
INFUSED WITH VOLUME AND MOVEMENT, THE PARURE CONVEYS THE MAJESTY OF THE DAHLIA IN GOLD AND DIAMONDS.
Chaumet pays homage to the dahlia in a contemporary reimagining. Adorned with five removable rosettes that can be worn in five different ways, the Maison’s signature tiara acts as a successor to the tiara created in the 1850s by Jean-Baptiste Fossin, with surprisingly realistic detachable pansy flowers. The largest bloom forms part of a necklace that took nearly 1,300 hours to make, while the other four motifs act as brooches or hair jewellery.
The double-twisted gold necklace is adorned with an imposing rosette whose rings of diamond-set white gold petals erupt in a 3.05-carat sparkling heart. The flowers give the appearance of constantly swirling, as they do on a ring lit up by a 5.82-carat F VVS1 diamond.
Strikingly feminine ear motifs and chain-link pendants, each adorned with two diamonds weighing over two carats, illuminate the wearer.
THE SECRET WATCH EMPHASISES THE POETRY THAT HIGH JEWELLERY ENCAPSULATES. AS REALISED BY ANITA PORCHET, THE DIAL’S DELICATE OPALESCENT PINK ENAMEL WORK GLOWS AGAINST A HAND-GUILLOCHÉ GROUND.
Water Lily
JUXTAPOSING SPINELS AND TOPAZ, THE PARURE CELEBRATES THE MAJESTIC BEAUTY OF THE WATER LILY, EXUDING THE PROFOUND POETRY OF THIS FLOWER BORN FROM THE AQUATIC WORLD, TRANSFORMED INTO A JEWEL IN THE SKILLED HANDS OF THE JEWELLERS OF 12 VENDÔME.
Majestically exquisite water lilies originally illuminated the pond at the entrance to the Malmaison greenhouse. Claude Monet also had them planted at the bottom of the pond in his water garden with its characteristic oriental atmosphere. Just as the master of Impressionism successfully captured the reflection of the sky in his colourful pond of water lilies, Chaumet unveils a parure of subtle openwork delineating laceworks of light.
On a sculptural necklace, involving nearly 1,400 hours of work, two openwork calyxes radiate oval-cut spinel buds, one pink and 4.51 carats, the other violet and of 6.12 carats; while a 23.11-carat imperial topaz locates the force of the sun’s piercing rays along the neckline. The latter can also be worn alone on a fine diamond-set chain. An equally voluminous ring features a spectacular water lily boldly blooming on the hand, with a 17.11-carat imperial topaz at its heart.
DESIGNED TO BE WORN AS STUDS OR ACCENTUATED WITH TOPAZ DROPS, EARRINGS EXUDE THE INFINITE POETRY OF THIS FLOWER EMERGING FROM THE WATERY DEPTHS, BLOSSOMING INTO A JEWEL IN THE INCOMPARABLE HANDS OF THE 12 VENDÔME JEWELLERS.
Bee
CHAUMET ALSO HIGHLIGHTS THE BEE, WITHOUT WHICH NATURE COULD NOT EXIST.
