Sometimes a pop of colour is all you need to tie an outfit together. Take it perhaps from the actresses who won the jewellery game at this year’s Cannes Film Festival. Monochromatic or otherwise simple outfits are jazzed up by pieces of jewellery with coloured gemstones as the centrepiece.
While many of those are high jewellery creations, there’s lots to be found from the world of fine jewellery too. Here are our picks.
The lion is one of Chanel’s signature emblems, it being the star sign of Mademoiselle Chanel herself. This ring comes from the house’s Sous le Signe du Lion collection, with a Byzantine style leonine figure crafted from yellow gold, decorated with diamonds and featuring a medallion of deep blue lapis lazuli.
Clean, precise geometry is at the heart of the Clash de Cartier collection. Which is also why it’s fun to see the French luxury jeweller switch it up with bursts of colour. In addition to deep black onyx and lustrous black Tahitian pearls, the brand has also come up with designs that include blue-green amazonite stones that offer compelling contrast.
Boucheron’s 2022 novelties include some spectacular gemstones that make a real statement. The Vendome Lisere ring pictured here (also available in green tourmaline and blue acquamarine) features a 12.79 carat emerald-cut pink morganite gem stone, framed by 42 1.03-carat diamonds and emphasised by panels of black lacquer.
Chaumet’s novelties this year centre around its Josephine collection, which is named after the French empress Josephine that the house were official jewellers to. This Josephine Aigrette (French for egret – a reference perhaps to its elegant shape) ring is designed to be stacked with other pieces from the line, and stars a 0.6 carat pear-shaped aquamarine that’s emphasised by 42 brilliant-cut 0.55 carat paved diamonds.
Fans of Hermes, here’s a collection for you. The Amulettes Kelly line recreates one of the house’s most famous handbag designs in miniature, turning its surface into a display of beautiful coloured gemstones. This one in rose gold covers the front of the Kelly pendant in 38 pink sapphires, with a locking clasp that’s inspired by the shape of the Kelly bag’s padlock.
The Rose des Vents collection from Dior is a great choice for everyday jewellery. The circular, medallion pendant of this necklace has a smooth pink opal side that can be flipped over to showcase the other face with diamonds and rose gold that’s meant to represent an eight-pointed wind rose.
The Link to Love collection of fine jewellery by fashion label Gucci is meant to interpret romance in an unexpected, modern way. That’s the reason why its designs skew to an industrial-influenced look rather than anything obviously romantic. This bracelet is detailed with engraved stripes on its 18K yellow gold, and dotted with baguette-cut green tourmalines.
Los Angeles jeweller Irene Neuwirth is a proponent of fun, playful colour. These drop earrings cheerfully combine Japanese Akoya pearls and diamonds with large, pear-cut aquamarines that weigh a total of 9.95 carats, with an openwork setting so that light illuminates and enhances the blue of these gemstones from the back.
Piaget’s Possession line is great for those with itchy fingers. It has a satisfying gimmick where its centre portions are movable and can be smoothly rotated. The jewellery brand has updated it this year with a range of designs that feature coloured gemstones. This one’s a slender white gold band, its moving section set with 46 brilliant-cut sapphires totalling 0.41 carats, and a signature-set brilliant-cut diamond in the centre.