When Gabriel lost the great love of her life Boy Chapel in 1919, it was to Venice that she fled. There she sought comfort in the city’s splendour and art, and in turn it grew to be one of the greatest sources of inspirations in both her life and career.
Today, the Floating City has once again inspired the House of Chanel, with director of the jewelry creation studio Patrice Leguéreau presenting his latest high jewellery collection, Escale à Venise, comprising 70 exceptional pieces that offer a contemporary interpretation of the architecture, culture and spirit of Venice.
Translating to Stopover in Venice, the latest collection is divided into four distinct lines – La Sérénissime, Gran Canale, Isole della Laguna and Spirito di Venezia – each inspired by an aspect of Venice that touched Mademoiselle Chanel, playing with a variety of extraordinary stones such as lapis lazuli, sapphires and diamonds. The Gran Canale collection, for example, comprises Volute Vénitienne and Volute Croisière sets that represent the mooring poles used by the gondolas, featuring the spectacular red, white and blue hues of sapphires, spinels and lapis lazuli.
La Sérénissime celebrates the city’s architectural wealth by capturing the facade of the Doge’s Palace through an arrangement of white and pink geometric designs. Echoing the quilting so dear to Chanel, the high jewellery necklace features a staggered motif set with baguette diamonds on a rose gold and platine structure, while a powerfully-constructed ring bears a cross in onyx, tallow and mandarin sapphires and diamonds topped with a scintillating 6.04 carat pink Padparadscha sapphire.
The third chapter, Isole della Laguna, presents three new interpretations of Coco’s favourite camellia flower, each one inspired by an ancient metier d’art practiced on one of the islands that dot the Venetian Lagoon. This includes a necklace punctuated with a 1.5 carat round diamond, foliage ring with round diamond, a pair of asymmetric earrings and an exquisite jewelled set.
Last but not least, Spirito di Venezia expresses the spirit of Venice through the personality of the lion that reigns supreme over the city. A bona fide symbol of the house, its guards a 10ct Type IIa diamond in one cocktail ring and flanks a 30.92ct blue sapphire in another.
