Chanel's Bijoux De Diamants Jewelry Collection
From 1932, when Gabrielle Chanel launched the Bijoux de Diamants, the world's first Haute jewelry line, until 2022 and the most recent Allure Celeste necklaces, we exclusively provide Chanel a stunning tale.
The year is 1932, and it has been three years since life was placed on the stop, when Black Thursday in 1929 drove the globe into the dark years of the Great Depression, and the prosperity of the 1920s faded into a not-so-clear sense of nostalgia. These were terrible days, characterized by an economic slump and inflation, as well as diminishing demand and increased unemployment. As a result, 1932 was an excellent opportunity to break fresh ground and make way for optimism and rejuvenation.
The London Diamond Corporation approached a lady, a creative accessory designer who used the same fashion design concepts to clothing. A powerful lady with a smart intellect at the helm of a sprawling enterprise that grew by the day. A lady who was not just a supporter of art and artists, but also the leading heart of her day. Gabrielle Chanel, who developed the first high jewelry collection in history, was the lady chosen to infuse fresh life into diamonds. Within two days, it had increased The Diamond Corporation's stock price, altering the whole industry and rejuvenating its period.
Summer evening in Paris. The sky was black as ink, covered in stars, and lighted by a halo of crescents, yet the weather was still mild. The stars, glistening like floating diamonds, were the idea for an event that was meant to serve as the foundation for all Chanel High Jewelry. Mademoiselle decided to adorn the woman's skin and hair with meteor showers, bright crescents, and sun flames as she gazed at the sky. Bijoux de Diamants is therefore a reflection of her passion for the irresistible brilliance of beauty and life, as well as a highly personal sense of style, inventive concepts, and the application of the Haute Couture philosophy to High Jewelry.
Gabrielle produced the first jewelry collection in history in 1932. Nobody had ever done anything like that before. Diamonds' perfection is only enhanced by their simplicity. Without ornamentation or traditional forms, but with a timeless and time-tested worth. Worse yet, in fashion.
Fifty white and yellow diamonds placed in platinum and yellow gold for everyday wear gleamed with the purity of light. Among the recognized pieces, 22 can build a map of the sky with as many comets, moons, and suns as there are comets, moons, and suns. Mademoiselle also imagined 17 optical illusions that mimic the elasticity of ribbon bows, dance fringes, and light feathers, while another eight pieces investigated the graphic purity of spirals, circles, squares, and crosses. Important shapes that will be rich in inspiration and will gradually unveil their secrets over the next millennia.
Testimonies depict massive brooches shaped like the numerals 3, 5, and 7, of which no trace has yet been unearthed. However, in 2012, Pate Gomon's documentary, which featured a selection of items from the show and was made at Gabrielle Chanel's private townhouse at 29 Faubur Saint Honore, was unearthed. The film is an inescapable view into the world of a lady who clearly did nothing like everyone else and did everything first. Long before the 1960s trend, he highlighted two pieces of gold and yellow diamonds, which showed Coco's passion for the sun and its vital strength.
Daily news articles heightened the sense of mystery surrounding the collection. And then there was malice. What could be a greater insult to jewelers than the selection of an "average tailor" to relaunch the diamond market? The London Diamond Corporation's declaration prompted immediate mayhem in Vandome Square, as the Bijoux de Diamants was converted into a "Chanel affair."
The whole industry banded together to stop Gabrielle Chanel from creating jewelry by demanding that it be disassembled and the stones returned. Mademoiselle left nothing to chance while presenting the Bijoux de Diamants. The jewelry was on display from November 7 to 19 at a never-before-seen show, which was preceded by a two-day private tour, and where the worldwide press and high society were buzzing.
Patrice Leguereau, head of the Chanel jewelry studio, retained the celestial concept, purity of lines, and freedom of the body ninety years after designing the first high jewelry collection, declaring: "I wanted to come back to the essence in 1932, moon and sun." "Each heavenly body emits its own light." The year 2022 is followed by a new sky map. Since the invention of the open necklace that looped around the neck and opened over the chest, the comet has been an emblem of Chanel jewelry. The Moon, which appeared only once in the Bijoux de Diamants collection, is now a stand-alone emblem in the 2022 collection.
The Allure Celeste necklace is a signature piece in the collection that takes you on a trip into the center of the light. Among the round cut diamonds, oval sapphire with a deep and strong blue hue and an outstanding weight of 55.55 carats and a cut diamond of type IIa DFL pear with an unusual weight of 8.05 carats stand out. The halos on this transformable piece detach and become brooches, just as the center row of diamonds transforms into a bracelet, shortening the necklace and paying respect to the pieces designed in 1932 by Mademoiselle Chanel, who aspired to wrap ladies with constellations.
