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Jul 5, 2016
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Chanel high jewelry collection celebrates wheat, a symbol of abundance and luck

By
AFP-Relaxnews
Published
Jul 5, 2016

Each of the French luxury label's high jewelry collections bears its own symbol or element dear to its founder, Gabrielle Chanel. The latest high jewelry line, presented alongside Paris Haute Couture Week, is no exception, this time choosing wheat as its theme as a happy symbol from the designer's childhood.

"Moisson d'Or" necklace - "Les Blés de Chanel" high jewelry collection.



Symbolizing regeneration, abundance, luck, prosperity and creativity, wheat has always been part of the life of Gabrielle Chanel, from her childhood to her adult years. It even became something of a good-luck charm for the French fashion designer.

It therefore seems natural for the luxury label to craft a jewelry collection based on the life cycle of wheat, from the first shoots of springtime to the formation of wheat ears and the harvest of grain.

Yellow sapphires, peridots, diamonds

The "Les Blés de Chanel" collection features 62 high jewelry pieces, split into four categories, each representing a different stage in the lifecycle of wheat. Green and yellow shades take center stage in the collection, with green evoking the first shoots and ears, and yellow representing ripe wheat turned gold by the sun. This is captured through Chanel's use of yellow sapphires and diamonds, peridots and yellow gold.

Several variations also give pride of place to white diamonds, white gold, aquamarine and cultured pearls from Japan and Indonesia.

Shoots, ears, grain, harvest

The first green shoots and ears of wheat, and, by extension, the beginning of springtime, are captured in the jewelry sets "Premiers Brins," "Brins de Printemps" and "Brins de Diamants," which use green tourmaline, peridots, diamonds and aquamarines.

Sun-ripened wheat ears are seen on the jewelry sets "Epi d'Eté," "Epi Vendôme," "Epi Solaire," "L'Epi" and "Cascade d'Epi," shimmering with yellow sapphires, paraiba tourmaline, aquamarine, and white and yellow diamonds.

Finally comes the harvest, with "Moisson Ensoleillée," "Bouquet de Moisson" and "Moisson de Perles," using yellow sapphires, diamonds and cultured pearls. "Moisson d'Or" combines yellow sapphires and diamonds in pieces including a long 18-karat yellow and white gold necklace set with a 16.8-karat oval-shaped sapphire, 27 marquise-cut diamonds (3 karats), 329 brilliant-cut diamonds (6.7 karats), 11 yellow sapphires (1.9 karats) and 977 yellow sapphire spheres totaling 477.5 karats. The "Fête des Moissons" set nods to the crowns of wheat often woven to celebrate harvest time through designs using yellow, white and multicolored diamonds.

The wheat theme is extended to a host of styles in the high jewelry collection, including sets "Champ de Blé," "Impression de Blé," "Blé Infini" and "Légende de Blé." These see diamonds set against yellow or white gold. The "Légende de Blé" 18-karat white gold necklace, for example, is set with a 5-karat marquise-cut diamond, 12 marquise-cut diamonds (10.4 karats) and 839 brilliant cut diamonds (17.6 karats).

 
 

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