This year marks the 10th Red Carpet jewellery collection from Chopard, created to coincide with the annual Cannes Film Festival held in the stunning setting of the French Riviera.
Uniting the highest realms of creativity and technical expertise, the collection sings with intricate, colourful high jewellery pieces that epitomise the glamour and femininity of this star-studded event.
First introduced in 2007 to mark the 60th anniversary of the festival, the Red Carpet collection is orchestrated by Chopard co-president and creative director Caroline Scheufele, and draws on the immense talent that thrives within the Swiss Maison. Each year, the number of red carpet jewellery pieces grows by one to match the number of festival editions, so this year 69 high jewellery creations will be unveiled to celebrate the 69th iteration of the event.
The jewels are designed to adorn the world’s most alluring and revered actresses as they step out onto the red carpet outside the Palais des Festivals. For the past three years, as part of its ongoing commitment to sustainable luxury, Chopard has also created a Green Carpet capsule collection, crafted from Fairmined gold and set with diamonds sourced from the RJC-certified IGC group.
This year sees the introduction of coloured gemstones to the Green Carpet collection through Chopard’s partnership with Gemfields. The Swiss jewellery house is breaking new ground by featuring ethical, fully traceable Zambian emeralds validated by brand consultancy Eco-Age through its Green Carpet Challenge Principles of Sustainable Excellence.
Overall, the focus for this year’s Red Carpet collection is very much on statement necklaces, with flowing open-worked designs set with snowy white diamonds or vibrant coloured gemstones, which are the ideal complement for glamorous designer gowns.
Alongside the more traditional rubies, sapphires, emeralds and diamonds sit a plethora of more unusual gemstones such as black opals, fire opals and sculpted jade. One of the most spectacular pieces is a tie-necklace set with a white opal surrounded by a riot of colour in the shape of emerald beads, sapphires, rubellites, tsavorites, topazes and amethysts.
Chokers have been a regular feature on the red carpet so far this year, and we’re expecting to see even more stunning examples of this trend among the Cannes Film Festival jewellery. The Chopard Red Carpet collection includes an intricate choker with diamond-set scrolling motifs, as well as several pairs of coloured gemstone drop earrings, which are another perennial red carpet favourite. Ultra light titanium, which can be coloured in a variety of hues to either match or contrast with the gemstones, also makes an appearance in numerous pieces such as the Chopard paisley sapphire and topaz earrings.
As the first day of the highly anticipated Film Festival gets underway, make sure to check The Jewellery Editor for updates on this year’s finest Cannes jewellery.
