One but not only

In a shrinking luxury market, one explanation for jewelry’s extraordinary resilience is the scrupulous attention that highend jewelers are paying to versatility. “We make considerable efforts to this end, working on those parts that are not seen and employing technical means to impart movement. We always imagine our pieces for the current era, as well as for another era that will be different from ours,” Pierre Rainero, Cartier’s image, style and heritage director, explains, going on to note that “lifestyles are constantly changing, hence we try to imagine how our customers might wear our jewelry in the medium and long term. A jeweler with a culture of continuity such as ours sets out to produce transformable jewels. Examples that come to mind are necklaces whose pendants can be worn as brooches, or head ornaments whose elements can be detached and worn as bracelets, such as the one made by Cartier London in 1928 that was purchased by Lady Mountbatten.” From waist to neck The earliest transformable jewelry made use of relatively simple, removable fasteners: a system inherited from the nineteenth century, although much older examples of this versatile practice abound. Chains doubled as necklaces and belts in the Middle Ages. Under the Ancien Régime, monarchs and nobles had gemstones stitched to their finery, changing them to mirror the latest tastes; in the Paris of Napoleon III, couturiers and jewelers worked hand-in-hand to create gowns and jewelry which adapted to different social functions. “The most important piece in a bridal trousseau was a transformable tiara, which could be broken down into brooches that were secured to a metal structure by butterfly screws,” notes Émilie Bérard, head of the patrimony collection at Van Cleef & Arpels, adding that “the word ‘transformable’ first appears in Van Cleef & Arpels’ ledgers in 1928, in the description of a ‘diamond sautoir with two emeralds, transformable into a bracelet’.” This piece would have been in keeping with the long necklaces and tie-necklaces that were typical of the House’s production in the late 1920s. /public-objects/d652f5f2-22ae-4f03-829d-bcd8288a2263-c8271ed8-0dcf-4902-b698-a76fc43fd958-1.webp Image sélectionnée Masters of metamorphosis Omnipresent throughout the first half of the twentieth century, this tradition of shape-shifting jewelry endures in contemporary creations. For the jewelry powerhouses whose boutiques line Place Vendôme, they are a substantial vehicle for artistic and technical emulation. It’s no longer rare for a piece to metamorphose into a myriad different and unexpected jewels. “An entry in one of the oldest ledgers conserved in our archives, dated July 1, 1859, mentions a “pierced bracelet in black enamel with an applique doubling as an enamel brooch’. This is the first written trace of a transformable jewel,” says Boucheron creative director Claire Choisne. “When we look at these pieces from the past, there is always one main way of wearing plus secondary, less impactful ways,” Choisne notes. “Today, we aim to take this transformability to an extreme, by creating multiple ways of wearing that are all equally important.” Once the preserve of one-of-a-kind creations, the leading maisons are now extending this art of metamorphosis to their regular collections, as illustrated by the latest creative expressions in the Alhambra, Coco Crush and Move collections, respectively by Van Cleef & Arpels, Chanel and Messika. It’s easy to see why. Ingenious wearing options, made possible by elaborate fastening systems and sophisticated articulations, appeal to clients who value freedom as the ultimate sign of modernity. /public-objects/db12caf3-8aa1-4722-ac19-a66487770c3b-73196cfe-d2a8-4e66-a5cc-5bf34e6d79aa-2.webp Image sélectionnée