‘Déferlante’, an extension to the previous ‘Torsade de Chaumet’ high jewellery collection, once again looks to the water for inspiration
Chaumet is inspired by the fluidity of a breaking wave in the new high jewellery collection, ‘Déferlante’, which rethinks eight signature pieces, from a transformable jewellery design to a tiara and a secret timepiece. Water has long been a source of inspiration for the maison, the energy of its movements particularly popular during the Belle Époque, when its fluid form became a common motif in high jewellery.
Creating this sense of movement with diamonds was not without its challenges. Pieces appear entirely flexible: in a three-row necklace, diamonds tumble down the neckline as if they are drops of water; in an asymmetrical, a glistening wave motif crests around a central diamond. ‘The challenge of “Déferlante” was to show the irregularity of a wave while keeping the movement as fluid as possible,’ adds Mansvelt.
The variety of diamond cuts – brilliant, princess, emerald and baguette – and the juxtaposition of geometric forms brings the immobile to vivid life. Says Mensvelt: ‘These pieces have an energy, this force of the wave. A real paradox. Hence all this work on the diamond cuts – the presence in the background of the knife edge to give depth, the play of balances and imbalances, the play of solids and voids to reinforce the impression of suspension.