Chanel’s New High Jewelry Collection Celebrates the Camellia—Coco’s Signature Fleur
Chanel’s New High Jewelry Collection Celebrates the Camellia
Gabrielle Chanel wasn’t one to fuss much over flowers. For the most part, tripping down opulent garden paths was something she left to others, embracing instead the most no-nonsense bloom around: the sober, scentless, thorn-free camellia. That move might have been a sly provocation: Until Chanel co-opted it, the camellia was more commonly worn as a man’s boutonniere. Whatever the motive, she made a habit of wearing a single white camellia against black, like a jewel. An icon was born, and its first fashion mention appeared in Vogue on May 1, 1924.
Of course, Chanel high jewelry collections have embraced the camellia from the outset. Memorably, it appeared on a cuff last season; there was also the Jardin de Camélias collection in 2013. This time around, however, the flower’s gone rogue. Dubbed the 1.5—shorthand for “one camellia, five allures”—the collection to be unveiled in Paris starting tomorrow takes a sole camellia and turns it every which way, in red, pink, and white with an accent on transformability. Half of the jewels in the 50-piece collection can be detached and refastened in various ways, conventional or not.
Take, for instance, the headliner: The “Rouge Incandescent” necklace in white gold with a 7.1-carat cushion-cut ruby and nine strands of diamonds (73.2 carats in all) incorporates a flower within a flower, and offers (at least) five options of wear. This and three other pieces—the “Rose Intense” sapphire and diamond ring, and the “Rose Tendre” ring in sculpted rose quartz, diamonds, and pearls and complementary stud earrings with removable gold pendants—debut exclusively here.
Watch: The Magic of Chanel’s Métiers d’Art Show:
