“Jewelization”, A Force For Creativity
Gemstones are taking to the streets, appearing in the most unlikely, even ordinary, places. Diamonds and pearls have come down from their pedestal to lend themselves to new uses. Bejeweled is everywhere, shattering unspoken boundaries with its energy.
Should the fancy take us, we can now cool ourselves with a diamond-trimmed fan, sip from a cup whose handle forms a gold-accented ring or wear a ruby earpiece. Basically, show that we have style in the most nonchalant way. This extension of precious gems and noble metals into the everyday realm comes not from a desire for opulence. It actually began with something of a gimmick. Since 1996, American lingerie brand Victoria’s Secret has ended its runway show with an “Angel” clad in a Fireworks Fantasy Bra: an explosion of spectacular gemstones with an average two million dollar price tag. Who would have imagined that such all-American exuberance would one day cross the Atlantic? Described by Gilles Lipovetsky and Jean Serroy in L’Esthétisation du Monde (Gallimard, 2013), homo aestheticus craves products that are saturated with style and affect. They fuel the “spectacle of the self” but, it would seem, are no longer sufficient to allay his or her anxieties. What better way to take back control than embellishments inspired by the clothes /wearable jewels walking the runways: a phenomenon that culminated in 2022 when Schiaparelli opened Paris Haute Couture Week with heavenly ornamentations that molded the body, supplanting the garment itself. /public-objects/062c4a37-74e7-4870-a181-f9833e7c1314-c3e297b0-7f79-4167-8ac0-4b88ab9d343d-MORE_IS_MORE1920.webp Image sélectionnée This principle that “I sparkle therefore I am” is inspiring a wave of projects. “We’re driven by R&D and by the shot of adrenalin these challenges bring,” declares the CEO of Celinni, a French diamantaire and specialist in bespoke pieces. Prohibitive cost means that few see daylight. Stiletto heels swathed in forty carats of diamonds is enough to put a brake on jewelisation: a specially coined term which semiologist Dr Anthony Mathé defines as “the spread of the jewelry aesthetic to every area relating to appearance.” Stone me! /public-objects/2ead6123-043d-48cb-a8f2-40003ad68a45-e21e65f8-c5c5-4a68-9841-a335b9b536c6-ADV_003_0711920.webp Image sélectionnée From head to toe In the wake of Antoine Boucheron, who as early as 1866 set a cat among the high-jewelry pigeons, the house’s creative director Claire Choisne unfurls her story arc with forty-centimeter cords, wearable as hoodie strings or as dangling earrings, a bejeweled hair scrunchie and a glittering detachable pocket. Ah! the joys of “jewelization”, which finds an ideal biotope in streetwear, sportswear (transfigured by Tasaki, a specialist in akoya pearls) and workwear. Cartier jumps in with its revisit of a reassuringly utilitarian object. Part of the Cartier Libre collection, its carabiner opens by pressing a sapphire cabochon while a pivoting central element displays a diamond-paved dial. But beware: Elizabeth Fischer, an historian at HEAD University of Art and Design in Geneva, warns that “the accumulation of ornamental brilliance prevents any form of discernment.” Not everything succeeds like excess. /public-objects/0122bf27-6bb3-452c-9271-cda3b02a3460-452bacf1-c096-464c-be6c-4710051bc787-1.%20Cartier%20Libre%20watch1920.webp Image sélectionnée Even so, jewelisation is opening welcome perspectives. Experimental jeweler YVMIN has imagined prosthetic leg shells embellished with purple zircons for influencer Xiao Yang. At the forefront of tech-driven jewelry, Yacine Hamdani uses an individual’s data in a remote co-creation process to design ear jewels. A person with profound hearing loss can customize their gem-studded earpiece to complement their cochlear implant. Proof that “jewelization” can be a driver for positive, meaningful creation?