The head of the creative studio Chanel Fine Jewelry Patrice Legero conceived the Russian collection for a long time. He, unlike Gabrielle Chanel, managed to visit Russia, and in the fall of 2017 he released a capsule line of seven Inspiration Russe jewelry. The Dimitri, Igor, Serguei sets are named after Mademoiselle's famous friends and lovers. This is the same “Russian Paris” that told her about a distant mysterious country. The Russian theme in Le Paris russe de Chanel is expanded, but all the common associations that have long become folklore - embroidery, kokoshnik, sundress - are executed very gracefully and solemnly.
Artists - participants of the first production of Igor Stravinsky's ballet "The Rite of Spring" in Paris in 1913. Costume designer Nicholas Roerich © Keystone France / Contributor
And French camellia is neatly woven into some Russian motives. In the Folklore set, terracotta enamel serves as the background for the petals outlined with diamonds. Above it are fixed small pearls, colored sapphires, spessartines and tsavorites, with a blue sapphire soloing in a wide cuff bracelet, and a pink spinel in the ring.
1 of 3 Folklore Bracelet © pr.chanel.com Folklore Ring © pr.chanel.com Folklore Earrings © pr.chanel.com
An imperial double-headed eagle, like the one that crowned the octagonal mirror in Chanel's apartment on Rue Cambon, adorns the necklace, ring and wide bracelet. The cuff in yellow gold Aigle Cambon is especially good: the brilliant silhouette of the feathers with the central octagonal rutilated quartz stands out beautifully against the textured gold background.
1 of 3 Wide Aigle Cambon bracelet © pr.chanel.com Wide Aigle Cambon bracelet © pr.chanel.com Aigle Cambon ring © pr.chanel.com
By the way, there was also the theme of ears, worked out in the High Jewelry collection several years ago. The Blé Maria set refers to the figure of Maria Pavlovna: the sister of the Grand Duke Dmitry Pavlovich opened the Kitmir embroidery studio in Paris.
Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna © Heritage Images / Contributor
The Blé Maria tiara and necklace are the most colorful items in the collection, colored with spinels, spessartines, tourmalines. The embroidery is played in Roubashka jewelry. Rows of pearls, twisted gold cords, diamonds of different cuts, set in white and yellow gold, symbolize the embroidered collar of the Russian shirt. A yellow diamond cushion sparkles in the center of the plastron necklace.
1 of 3 Tiara Blé Maria © pr.chanel.com Necklace-transformer Blé Maria © pr.chanel.com Brooch Blé Maria © pr.chanel.com
This rich Sarafane collar necklace is woven of diamonds and large snow-white pearls with a central 10-carat diamond-cut stone. The most expensive jewel worth over € 4.8 million has already found its buyer.
Ballerina Anna Pavlova in national costume with kokoshnik © Heritage Images / Contributor
In the snow-white Sarafane set, there is another spectacular transformable thing - a kokoshnik diadem, which turns into a necklace. Each of its openwork fragments and bezels are trimmed along the contour with large gold grains, and inside are decorated with diamond leaves and camellias.
1 of 7 Sarafane Transformed Tiara © pr.chanel.com Sarafane Ring © pr.chanel.com Sarafane Ring © pr.chanel.com Sarafane Necklace © pr.chanel.com Sarafane Bracelet © pr.chanel.com Sarafane Earrings © pr. chanel.com
The world premiere of the Le Paris russe de Chanel collection will take place in Moscow in November. Ten more high-jewelery novelties are promised to be added to 69 finished pieces.>