Presenting a collection of high jewelery art during the days of the Parisian haute couture week (even if it will be held online) is one of the fundamental traditions that is sacredly revered at the House of Chanel. As well as the fact that any story under the Chanel logo is inextricably linked with Mademoiselle's biography. Russian Paris, tweed, Coromandel screens from her apartment on the rue Cambon - these are just some of the scenes played by the craftsmen of the Chanel jewelry studio.
The new precious collection of 70 items is called Escale à Venise and is dedicated to one of Mademoiselle's favorite places. The story of her acquaintance with the city on the water is well known. Chanel first appeared in Venice in 1920, after the death of her beloved Arthur Capel. Coco's friend Misya Sert and her husband, the artist Jose Maria, insisted on this trip. It was he who demonstrated to Chanel all the splendor of the "Most Serene" and her Byzantine heritage - led him to the altar of the Basilica of San Marco, showed the Pala d'Oro, a precious three-meter altar, strewn with large colored cabochons. Chanel discovered the golden color, which turned out to be livelier and richer than her beloved black, as well as the symbol of Venice and its patron saint - the winged lion, which from now on took an important place in her work and the interior of her Paris apartment. The lion became the protagonist of the high jewelery story "Under the Sign of the Lion" in 2013, and a separate set is dedicated to him in this precious collection.
The creative director of Chanel's jewelry department, Patrice Legero, conceived this collection as an acquaintance with the city: escale is French for “stopover”. Escale à Venise is a boat trip along the Grand Canal (Gran Canale set), a trip to the islands of the Venetian Lagoon (Isole della Laguna set), gazing at Renaissance facades and Byzantine mosaics (Serenissime set). Neither the red ribbon on the gondolier's boater (the Ruban Canotier ring in the shape of a hat), nor the wooden piles to which the gondolas are moored (diamond-lazuli details in the Gran Canale jewelry), nor the polychrome marble floors (allusion to Serenissime plastron with onyx and smalt squares of colored sapphires), nor the skill of Murano glass blowers,which is conveyed by splashes of rock crystal in the Camelia venitien necklace (by the way, its silhouette, framed by chains-cords, resembles a heavy frame of an old Venetian mirror).
1 of 12 Serenissime necklace Volute Marine earrings © press service Two-finger ring Volute Venitienne © press service Volute Venitienne necklace © press service Eblouissante bracelet © press service Eblouissante necklace © press service Eblouissante ring © press service Ruban Canotier ring © press service Camelia Baroque ring © press service Volute Croisiere ring © press service Asymmetric Camelia Venitien earrings © press service Camelia Venitien necklace © press service
The final set of Spirito di Venezia is the lion ruling the city. Its winged profile is precisely replicated in the Lion Celeste necklace. Constellation Astrale jewelry interprets the winged patron saint on the facade of the Basilica of San Marco: the background of the starry sky is rendered in a mosaic of lapis lazuli with a scattering of yellow sapphires. The Lion Secret rings contain the largest stones in the collection: a lion guards a flawless 10.07 carat pear-shaped diamond, and a blue cushion-cut sapphire weighing over 30 carats is sandwiched between two lion's heads.
1 of 7 Constellation Astrale Bracelet © Press Office Constellation Astrale Ring © Press Office Lion Emblématique Ring © Press Office Lion Emblématique Earrings © Press Office Lion Secret Ring with a 10.07ct Diamond © Press Office Lion Secret Sapphire Ring 30.92 ct © Press Service Lion Celeste necklace sketch>