High jewellery takes flight this autum

What makes high jewellery design so haute? There are prosaic explanations, of course, the obvious one being the precious stones that exalt it beyond everyday jewellery. The frisson of rarity, the fact that each piece is entirely a one-off taking up to two years to bring to fruition, only heightens the whole effect. 

But if it was simply about high value, precious stones might as well stay in the bank vault or museum. It’s the design where the magic begins.

Current offerings include a Graff waterfall necklace with trademark yellow and white diamonds so voluminous that they radiate around the neck like a sunrise. Bulgari has presented the rose-gold Divas’ Dream High Jewellery watch: its tiny dial, with equally teensy scarlet-enamel hands, is hidden like a secret tool in an Egyptian-style cuff radiating beams of juicy rubellites and diamonds. 

On the J Schatz stoneware Egg birdhouses ($265 each): Louis Vuitton yellow- and white-gold, diamond, emerald and ruby Deep Time Plants High Jewellery collar and white-gold, diamond and sapphire Deep Time Wave High Jewellery ring. Jewellery throughout, all POA

On the Likhâ takip-asin-wood, cogon-grass and twig Square Tiki birdhouse (£50, wolfandbadger.com): Chopard Fairmined-white-gold, titanium, diamond and sapphire Butterfly ring and Fairmined-white-gold, titanium, diamond, sapphire and amethyst Red Carpet Collection ring

Then there is Van Cleef & Arpels’ flamboyant Cornucopia brooch, which spills forth ripe ruby and sapphire fruits and budding diamond flowers. “Our jewellery designs often display colourful and vibrant combinations of stones,” confirms Nicolas Bos, president and CEO of Van Cleef & Arpels. “It’s why we really like to create clips, because they can be compared to art objects – like genuine miniature sculptures.” 

We must not be too serious – our jewels are there to play with

“Craftsmanship at this level is extremely demanding, so everything about the design process, the sheer skill of the design, is totally unusual, crazy even,” says Pierre Rainero, Cartier’s director of image, style, and heritage.  This year, the Paris jewellery house presented the Voltea suite as part of its Le Voyage Recommencé collection. Lapidaries cut each individual coral and onyx bead so that they formed a specific pattern: when set into rose-gold frames of diamond-set curves, whether necklace, earrings or ring, each jewel appears to pulse with a rhythmic energy, like a futuristic soundwave. It’s an extremely modern take on the house’s classic red and black palette.

On the Keramikkverkstedet Kristin Antonsen glazed vitrous stoneware birdhouse, (from NKr2,600, about £198): Cartier rose-gold, diamond, coral and onyx Le Voyage Recommencé necklace and matching ring

On the Qui Est Paul? recyclable-PED Picto birdhouses (€69 each): Pomellato rose-gold, diamond and sapphire Urban Bloom necklace

The aim in contemporary high jewellery is to show off the stones in all their glory – but this wasn’t always the case. Whimsical designs, such as floral bouquets and comic bunny rabbits, were popular in the postwar period as people ached for a lighter, brighter outlook; in the 1960s and 1970s, high jewellers began to incorporate elements of wood into their jewellery and focus more on hand-engraved goldwork, reflecting a freer, hippie vibe. 

“We have more freedom to create designs on a grander scale now,” Rainero admits, “whereas in the 1930s, for instance, designers wanted to be more playful with these very important precious things, not to underline their value.” He reminds us that, in 1937, Cartier had an agreement with Walt Disney to create a charm bracelet celebrating the launch of his studio’s groundbreaking Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. “Today, the designs may be far more opulent, but a note of fantasy remains,” he says. “We must not be too serious about it all – it’s there to play with. You don’t have to be a victim of your jewellery, you know.”

Van Cleef & Arpels white- and rose-gold, diamond, rubellite, spessartite-garnet, ruby, sapphire and amethyst Cornucopia clip. Likhâ takip-asin-wood, cogon-grass and twig Square Tiki birdhouse, £50, wolfandbadger.com

Bulgari rose-gold, diamond and rubellite Divas’ Dream High Jewellery watch. Owantshoozi recycled-rubber birdhouse by Ddiddue and Juana Etcheberry, €60

From left: Boucheron titanium, diamond and resin This is Not a Ring ring, titanium, tsavorite-garnet, mother-of-pearl and lacquer This is Not a Ring ring, and titanium and resin This is Not a Ring ring. Wildlife Garden wood Multiholk de Stijl birdhouse, £65, twentytwentyone.com

On the Owantshoozi recycled-rubber birdhouse by Ddiddue and Juana Etcheberry (€60): Graff white-gold, white- and fancy-yellow-diamond High Jewellery necklace

On the Likhâ takip-asin-wood Trapezoid planter-birdhouse (£69, wolfandbadger.com): from top, Tiffany & Co gold, diamond and enamel Schlumberger bracelet and gold, spessartite-garnet and Imperial-topaz Paloma’s Studio ring

From top: Dior Joaillerie yellow- and rose-gold, platinum, diamond, mother-of-pearl, emerald, sapphire, tsavorite- and spessartite-garnet, Paraíba-tourmaline, ruby and lacquer Les Jardins de la Couture necklace, and yellow-, white- and rose-gold, platinum, diamond, mother-of-pearl, tsavorite-garnet, pink-, yellow- and blue-sapphire, Paraíba-tourmaline, emerald and lacquer Jardins de la Couture ring, both POA. Qui est Paul? recyclable-PED Picto birdhouse, €69

From top: Harry Winston platinum and diamond Couture Diamond bracelet and necklace. J Schatz stoneware Egg birdhouse, $265

Gucci gold, white- and fancy-diamond, garnet and rubellite Allegoria high-jewellery hair band. Keramikkverkstedet Kristin Antonsen glazed vitreous stoneware birdhouses with gold and platinum lustre details, from about £198

On the Qui Est Paul? recyclable-PED Picto birdhouse (€69): Chaumet white-gold and diamond Fern brooch

On the Peter Eudenbach Studio wood and metal birdhouse ($350): Elie Top yellow- and white-gold, distressed-silver, diamond and emerald Sirius Emerald necklace and matching Double ring

Boghossian yellow- and white-gold and diamond Merveilles Halo necklace. J Schatz stoneware Egg birdhouse, $265

Giorgio B rose-gold, diamond, coral and enamel Goccia ring, POA. Qui est Paul? recyclable-PED Picto birdhouse, €69

Photographer’s assistants, Valentin Le Marc’h and Vincenzo Sassu.
Digital operator, Manon Clavelier. Production, Alexandra Carney