Sonia Kolesnikov-Jessop Delves Into The Colourful Editions

Sonia Kolesnikov-Jessop delves into the colourful editions from high jewellery houses launched at Paris Couture Week.

- Sonia Kolesnikov-Jessop

SECRET GARDENS

With its Place Vendôme boutique transformed into a magical white garden through an intricate paper installation, Japanese jeweler Mikimoto presented its Jardin Mystérieux collection, which references the secret gardens of European stately homes. While pearls remain the undisputed stars of the collection, be they luscious Akoya cultured pearls or rare pink conch pearls, Mikimoto jewelry designer Noriko Ota also incorporated fine colored stones such as peridots, tourmalines, garnets, spinels, emeralds, and sapphires to create a collection of 40 baroque pieces, including many brooches. The jeweler displayed intricate craftsmanship, for example, depicting a wrought iron gate with tiny diamonds on a brooch or with the use of a plique-à-jour technique (vitreous enameling applied in cells without backing) to create a luminescent green foliage on another brooch. Several whimsical pieces tell their own stories, such as three sapphire doves flying above a cobbled yard of diamonds in the direction of a mimosa tree in full bloom, or a majestic swan (its body created by an oddly shaped pearl) gliding over the water with marquise-shaped diamonds subtly evoking ripples.

A DAZZLING PARIS