Issue link: https://www.balharbourdigital.com/i/1019393
HIGH MINDED Boundless imagination defines this season's haute joaillerie collections. Herein, we review the best from Bulgari, Van Cleef & Arpels, David Yurman and Chopard. 60 BAL HARBOUR BY TANYA DUKES THERE'S NO USE IN debating the eternal appeal of a classic diamond riviere or a rare gemstone solitaire. (Don't bother. Case closed.) But among the rarefied company of high jewelry collectors there's growing emphasis on design with a unique point of view over conventional design meant to flaunt the biggest stone on the block. Pieces from David Yurman's Fall collection are particularly distinct, with the most remarkable ones combining the brand's established elements with dramatic settings. Heaped high with custom-cut sapphires, rubies, emeralds and blindingly brilliant diamonds, the geometric links and twisted cable motifs from the label's Stax collection are rock star glamorous. Achieving such an effect demands unwavering commitment from creatives, stone setters and everyone in- between. "Creating high jewelry is really a craft of dedication," says chief creative officer Evan Yurman. "There are no shortcuts and making each piece of jewelry requires intensive collaboration and loyalty." Dior's fidelity to the craft of haute couture informed the direction of their latest jewelry creations. Specifically, the importance of lace to the house's legacy sent Dior jewelry artistic director Victoire de Castellane hunting for techniques that achieve the same delicacy with precious metal and gems. Her ethereal designs are a hybrid of tradition and modernity. Each piece is rendered with painstaking technique, and many of the contemporary silhouettes— two-finger rings, mismatched boho hoops in coordinating palettes of multicolored sapphires—just might introduce a new generation to the virtues of high jewelry. To Nicolas Bos, CEO of Van Cleef & Arpels, "wonder and enchantment" are indispensable components of the brand's allure. Taking four of Grimm's fairy tales as creative fodder, a just-introduced Van Cleef & Arpels high jewelry collection includes a formation of dancing princesses rendered as a diamond collar, magical plumes adorned with invisibly set pastel sapphires and a spinel and ruby ring that evokes an enchanted chalice. "For me," says Bos, "high jewelry is a piece of a dream in everyday life." Chopard's newly minted red-carpet collection conjures dreams of a different variety. Distant travels—real and imagined—were the genesis of 71 one-of-a-kind jewels. A pair of gem-set earrings in the form of luxuriant orchid blossoms were derived from Aphrodite's mythical garden, while an extravagant feathered necklace set with a cameo, red jasper and violet garnets recalls traditional Mongolian dress. In the case of Bulgari, it was time travel that inspired their latest high jewelry effort. The Wild Pop collection revives the over-the-top spirit of the 1980s with creative director Lucia Silvestri taking cues from the pop culture of the decade, along with the brand's Roman roots and ties to Andy Warhol—who was fascinated by Bulgari jewelry. Necklaces decorated with diamond-studded flamingos and palm trees, an onyx brooch resembling a series of microphones and a pendant that subtly spells the brand's name in carved coral and turquoise captures the whimsy and freedom of the age of "Miami Vice" and Michael Jackson. It's anything but anonymous because being memorable requires a generous dose of audacity—a lesson Silvestri learned while working alongside vice chairmen Nicola and Paolo Bulgari. "You have to dare," she says. Inspired by Grimm's fairy tales, the Serapi ring from Van Cleef & Arpels features blue and pink sapphires, diamonds and coral. COURTESY OF VAN CLEEF & ARPELS