PARIS — Couture week isn’t just about the clothes. Designers, in fact, are taking advantage of its relatively light schedule of shows to present their latest high-end watch and jewelry collections.
This week, Chanel is introducing Chocolat, the house’s first digital watch. Available in high-tech ceramic, steel or 18 karat gold with diamond accents, the links that compose the bracelet are inspired by the classic quilted Chanel bag, the cap of the Chanel No.5 perfume bottle and the octagonal architecture of the Place Vendôme.
Today, Victoire de Castellane will unveil her latest group of fine jewelry designs for Dior, called Victoire’s Coffret. The idea is to create a personalized jewelry box composed of select, one-of-a-kind pieces produced by Dior with de Castellane’s findings from around the world. The initial box will be displayed only at the Dior Fine Jewelry Boutique at Place Vendôme and contains four pieces, including a customized antique cameo ring and a pair of earrings made of yellow gold and sculpted jade from Hong Kong. There will be five Coffrets in all.
Finally, Brazilian jewelry designer Carla Amorim, who has been designing for a decade and boasts seven boutiques in Brazil, showed her latest collection for the first time in Paris at the Bristol Hotel on Monday. The pieces, which feature semiprecious stones from Brazil and diamonds set in 18 karat gold, are inspired by architect Oscar Niemeyer’s work as well as by such natural elements as grass, orange peels and fish bones.
— Laurent Folcher and Alison Beckner