How many arts are there? When you love art, who is counting, at least for Chopard copresident and artistic director Caroline Scheufele.
If last year’s Red Carpet high jewelry collection paid tribute to her love for the seventh art of cinema, the one she is unveiling in conjunction with the 2023 Cannes Film Festival is influenced by art in general, be it a sculptor in Ancient Greece or nature itself.
Architecture, painting, dance or music are also among the sources for Scheufele’s magpie eye for catching details that spark her design process.
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In parallel to these inspirations collected throughout her travels, she named her biggest love as colored and precious gemstones, whose unique properties and stories are “very special” to her. “I can feel their energy and I spend time studying them, thinking of various designs,” she said.
Case in point: a 127.7-carat oval-cut vivid yellow Ceylon sapphire that became the center stone in a sculptural ring that nods to antique statuary, sitting in the 2023 Red Carpet collection alongside a pearl necklace featuring a floral motif set with beryls, opals, peridots and multicolored sapphires and tourmalines.
There are also more abstract designs, such as the outline of a heart in diamond pavé white gold — Fairmined-certified, of course — filled with evocative five-petaled flowers — and a purple-toned necklace set with more than 80 carats of tanzanite in pear, marquise and brilliant cuts, meant to evoke the field of architecture.
Whether it’s for private clients or talents and their stylists, what the pieces start with is exceptional gemstones. But it’s not what tips the scales.
“Red carpet jewelry to me is something special that has that elusive ‘wow’ factor,” said Scheufele. To that end, there are gemstones, often in striking color pairings, but also innovation, such as designs that intertwine stones in patterns that mimic intricate lacework or settings in curved titanium that imitate flower petals.
For Scheufele, most important is the notion that “modern high jewelry is easy to wear and versatile; it fits perfectly to the neck, the wrist; lightweight and comfortable [to wear].”
And there’s no better place to show this off than the red carpet.
“The Red Carpet collection celebrates the many actresses and glamorous celebrities that grace red carpets all over the world, and Cannes is one of the most prestigious of all exceptional events,” she said.
Having these pieces come alive on movie stars “will always enhance its aura and can give rise to some memorable moments,” said Scheufele, who is adamant that “a piece of jewelry is not meant to be displayed in a window,” but worn.
“Seeing [our] high jewelry pieces come to life [in Cannes] makes me incredibly proud, for myself, but also for our entire team of artisans who work tirelessly for thousands of hours on each and every piece,” said Scheufele, who feels “a strong emotion” of pieces that “become part of history.”
The cinema hub on the French Riviera has certainly provided a number of such memorable moments, including Marion Cotillard sporting pieces from the first Green Carpet collection in 2013, made with sustainably sourced gold, and Julia Roberts’ famous shoe-less festival debut in 2016, where she felt a Chopard necklace trumped the Cannes festival’s footwear requirements.
As is now tradition, there will be 76 pieces in the 2023 Red Carpet collection. “I wanted to link this collection with the festival, commemorating its enduring history by matching the number of pieces to the number of editions,” she said. “Also, adding an additional number each year creates a special challenge which pushes us to be more innovative each time and really explore our creativity.”
The Swiss jewelry house also produces the trophies handed out at the Cannes Film Festival, including the Palme d’Or and the silver-coated gold film reel on a glass base that rewards the successful debut of two emerging talents for the Trophée Chopard, which this year will be presented by Natalie Portman.
Beyond the glamorous festival, a moment like Cannes is also a good business opportunity for the brand. “Often, clients would request to see and buy the high jewelry pieces worn the prior evening on the red carpet,” confirmed Scheufele.