Color, from a whisper to a bang
Color has emerged as a defining force, asserting itself in every facet of the jeweler’s art but resisting easy categorization as each house speaks its own chromatic language, rich in nuance and individuality.
The profusion of stones, wealth of color and tonal palettes reflect access to gems that would have been hard to imagine only a decade ago. The latest high jewelry creations make the case for color in striking combinations of shades, achieved with lacquer, enamel, painted mother-of-pearl, doublets or pointillist compositions. Black’s big comeback contrasts with the emergence of nude shades, muted pastels and subtle gradients. Elsewhere, saturated gemstones land with whipsharp energy when paired with hardstones in equally vibrant tones. HIGH PRECISION Meticulous designs come alive in swathes of lilliputian stones. Eyes glued to their magnifier, the gem-setter assembles hundreds of tiny gems with the intense focus this tenth-of-a-millimeter precision requires. A carefully orchestrated gradient of green tourmalines on Pomellato’s Silent Lagoon necklace suggests a ray of light skimming the stones. At Damiani, 1,142 sapphires, tourmalines and diamonds froth and foam on the Impetuosa necklace, inspired by Hokusai’s Great Wave Off Kanagawa. Meanwhile, Dior Joaillerie plants jewels with minuscule flowers plucked from a doll-sized garden. /public-objects/eaa2284b-2fdd-4efe-8037-127c732819a5-3416faeb-b56e-4bc1-8102-e73167006d7a-Piaget%20boucles%20d%C3%A2%C2%80%C2%99oreilles%20Gems%20Pop%20or%20rose%2C%20grenats%20spessartites%2C%20aventurine%20orange%2C%20thulite%2C%20opale%2C%20diamants.webp Image sélectionnée /public-objects/f72a9a6c-71fe-45a6-b443-5ba493005b49-bd880b9e-5792-467e-87e8-6ac4b145adaa-Van%20Cleef%20%26%20Arpels_l%C3%83%C2%A9gende%20%C3%83%C2%A0%20venir%20(3).webp Image sélectionnée BOLD AND BALANCED At Piaget and at Van Cleef & Arpels, the language of color translates into jewels that display bold contrasts and extrovert harmonies. Piaget’s Colours of Extraleganza collection sings with perfect slices of immaculate opal, sugar-pink thulite and mandarin aventurine or, elsewhere, aquatic greens and blues. Van Cleef & Arpels’ Fascinating Egypt collection (a tribute to the creative legacy of a house that fully embraced 1920s Egyptomania) is a true journey for the senses. Hardstones’ vibrant saturated tones could not be further from the transparency and brilliance of precious stones, yet together they make a perfect match. The hallmark of contemporary elegance. MUTED SHADES Away from the zing of sapphires, fiery red tourmalines, burnt orange imperial topazes or hyper-saturated blue zircons, pastel shades are bringing a more restrained palette. Powder pink, mint green, lavender and peach hint at a softer femininity. Chaumet’s A Journey through Nature, Bucherer’s cocktail rings, morganites and blush pink diamonds at Pasquale Bruni, David Morris and Mikimoto all invite restful contemplation. Jewelers are changing the way they work with color, too. Painted enamel (“émail gemme” at Serendipity), airbrushed mother-of-pearl in a red and fuchsia gradient (a new technique from Dior Joaillerie), micro-painted blooms on rose quartz, like vintage wallpaper patterns, in Boucheron’s Human Being collection, along with a profusion of doublet gemstones confirm this desire to extend the spectrum to include original hues and novel effects. /public-objects/8a29078a-78e0-4ebd-91fb-8ab5ac7da590-6763ab3b-05aa-436c-91ce-94704b6b4af8-David%20Morris%20bague%20Fantasia%20or%20blanc%20et%20or%20rose%20diamant%20Fancy%20Intense%20Green%2C%20diamants%20roses%20et%20diamants%20blancs%20(2).webp Image sélectionnée /public-objects/0d1602d2-7031-49ef-bed5-e1b866825b8e-ed6848bf-89b5-474b-9946-325cec7e85c9-Lola%20%20Fenhirst%20boucles%20d'oreilles%20or%20blanc%20et%20diamants%20champagne%20ros%C3%83%C2%A9.webp Image sélectionnée SOFTLY-SPOKEN DIAMONDS Making gentle inroads, warm-toned diamonds (desert diamonds, as De Beers calls them), unlike the traditionally sought-after icy white stones, come in a palette of earthy shades from champagne to cognac through honey and amber tones. Reminiscent of the Namibian desert where they originate, they are finding their way into the work of a new generation of designers. The next direction for quiet luxury in jewelry? RADIANT DARKNESS The return of black to jewelry is neither an act of defiance nor a revival of elegance from a past era. It is more an attitude, a radiant darkness that frames light and heightens color. While onyx, obsidian, jet, ebony and black diamonds never completely disappeared from collections, they had never, until now, been so much the center of attention: black jade at Hermès; onyx at Boucheron, laser-engraved with houndstooth check (Human Being) or on the latest Serpent Bohème pieces; emeralds on matte black graphite droplets (Grafite Noir); nautical rope in ruthenium set with black diamonds and Zimi yellow diamonds at Gucci. And Cartier, of course, whose panther has always sported onyx spots, making black a recurring motif across almost all its creations. New palettes such as these are proof that color is taking new direc tions, joyously reinvented and reimagined by contemporary jewelers. /public-objects/fe87391a-5bcf-406b-8e3d-d51be672f21c-5dd9d058-56fd-4244-8bed-69fa57df6e7c-Boucheron%20collier%20Checkers%20or%20blanc%2C%20diamants%20et%20onyx%20grav%C3%83%C2%A9%20(1).webp Image sélectionnée