Jewellery is designed to be worn not kept in glass display vitrines and in the rarefied world of high jewellery the vitrine is being replaced by the catwalk. Clients are now lavishly entertained in historic locations by the luxury maisons with glamorous gala dinners, entertainment and a fashion show to showcase the exquisite jewels that have emerged from their ateliers. Like haute couture, haute joaillerie looks better when worn. 

Traditionally, these jewels would have been presented behind closed doors at private dinners with a few models dressed in diamonds intermingling with guests, although mostly jewels were exhibited on stands. However, luxury brands in the age of social media began debuting their spectacular new collections on celebrity guests which proved very effective for Chopard whose Red Carpet collection is unveiled annually by film stars at the Cannes Film Festival. 

As recently noted by Chaumet’s CEO, Charles Leung, “fifty per cent of our annual media coverage comes from high jewellery. It is the utmost artistic expression of our house.” Therefore, high jewellery galas have become more extravagant and include catwalk shows that gain media traction. Chaumet’s finale this year featured new and historic diamond tiaras (a house signature) worn by models in chic tuxedos.

For several years Victoire de Castellane’s Dior collection has been presented on models dressed by Maria Grazia Chiuri, the couture maison’s creative director. The latest, the Diorama and Diorigami collection, with its enchanting depictions of forest animals and flowers were complemented by moiré taffeta gowns, bustiers and cigarette pants. Similarly, the crystal embellished crepe gowns and jumpsuits on the catwalk with Louis Vuitton’s Paris-inspired Awakened Hands, Awakened Minds collection were designed by womenswear artistic director Nicolas Ghesquière. While Piaget’s 150th anniversary Extraleganza collection of neo-Seventies crafted gold cuffs and big turquoise necklaces took to the catwalk with models dressed in Grecian-style draped gowns by Lanvin.

Presenting in this way gives clients a better understanding of the potential of these jewels and how they might be worn. Bvlgari, for instance, secured the help of French fashion editor Carine Roitfeld to style their Aeterna collection which included legendary models Isabella Rossellini in a pantsuit and Carla Bruni in an earth-coloured draped gown and ruby and diamond necklace.

Caroline Scheufele, co-president and artistic director of Chopard has now taken this a step further, weaving a conversation between jewellery and clothing, by devising her own collection of 50 couture silhouettes in satin, chiffon and taffeta to present her latest Red Carpet haute joaillerie collection, because clients had said they didn’t know what to wear with their jewels. This collection helps them build their outfits in a coordinated way with Scheufele’s captivating new fairytale-inspired jewels.