Rubies make a majestic entrance into Chopard’s creative jewellery collection. With the Precious Lace Collection, Chopard makes the preciousness of gemstones and the luxury of lace more accessible and wearable. These are personal jewellery treasures for every day, every occasion and every woman
The Precious Lace Collection is a contemporary jewellery classic composed of intertwining precious stones. Instantly recognisable as an iconic Chopard style signature, this jewellery line is nurtured by a light-hearted, relaxed spirit.
Lyrical and supremely feminine by nature, it expresses the jewellery expertise cultivated in the maison’s ateliers through a rich range of pendants, earrings, rings and bracelets. Inspired by the lightness of lace, the collection plays with light and space, weaving rubies, diamonds and ethical rose gold together in fluid, intricate openwork.
The result is a fascinating dialogue between strength and fragility, between the eternal brilliance of precious stones and the ethereal weightlessness of a lace-like jewel floating over the skin, hovering between haute couture and haute joaillerie. A new vision of haute joaillerie, the collection embodies a different take on the art of wearing precious stones, midway between haute and fine jewellery, while also displaying a talent for blending elegance and casual that is an unmistakable Chopard signature.
The designs of the Precious Lace Collection echo the scrolls, swirls and scalloped edges of fine antique lace. This rhythmic, undulating gem-set gold volute is miniaturised through a stylised flower named “Mini-Froufrou”, with its scalloped borders and pear-shaped ruby petals on an airy openwork background. The motif is interpreted on a ring, earrings, pendant and bangle.
Due to their deep red colour, rubies have long carried connotations relating to the most intense emotions such as love and passion. Associated with blood, they became a potent symbol of life in ancient cultures and acquired status as emblems of power. In India, ruby owners were reputed to live in peace with their enemies, linking the stone with a sense of security and invincibility.
Since antiquity, rubies steadily forged their own legend, before finding their way into the regalia of many empires and into the attributes of members of the nobility who wanted to show their wealth, prosperity and marital happiness. Today, they are regarded as one of the most romantic gifts, equated with vows of eternal love.
Just as the collection plays with the light and lightness of precious stones, with shape and form and space, so the theme itself plays with concepts of preciousness, and with the fusion between haute joaillerie and haute couture. The art of lacemaking was perfected in 16th century Venice, from where it spread across Europe to centres in Belgium, France, Spain and England, taking on different characteristics, in different styles.
Lace, so meticulously and skilfully hand-made, was prized as a rich adornment to costume, for collars, cuffs, caps and ruffles, worn by royalty and nobility. It was regarded as a much-treasured, valuable possession particularly by the great Renaissance rulers, including Elizabeth I. Like jewels and gems, lace thus became a symbol of status and power.
In these jewels, the effect of exquisite hand-made lace is re-created by the interplay of pear-shaped and brilliant-cut gemstones, using their shapes and their silhouettes within the openwork space in each design, to bring a lilting rhythm, playful fluidity and contemporary stylisation to the essential classicism of the theme.
The delicacy of lace is replicated by the extreme precision of the goldwork, the slender mounts and airiness that serve to highlight the radiance of the rubies, and at the same time, showcase the supreme skill of the maison’s in-house artisans. Expertise similar to that of the nimble-fingered seamstresses referred to as petites mains in the field of haute couture, with which Chopard shares a number of core values: an array of eminently noble materials, a flair for details, a commitment to wearer comfort, and above all, an authentic love for women.
