Chanel celebrates Gabrielle Chanel's love of diamonds with a high jewellery collection to launch at the Biennale de Antiquaires de Paris this September. Feathers are the theme of this collection and one of the main attractions is the long diamond-set brooch that Gabrielle Chanel presented in 1932 at her "Bijoux de Diamants" show. The original feather, that is cleverly engineered with flexible articulations, was first shown on a wax model and worn as a head band along the brow. None of the original pieces survived as they were later taken apart. Taking inspiration from Gabrielle's exhibition, Chanel's latest collection of jewellery pays homage to the 1932 collection and like the originals, each jewels begins with a water colour sketch. The next stage is to create a wax cast is formed. Once the gold model has been cast, the stones are set in the mounts that have all been polished by hand with thread to ensure maximum luminosity to the diamonds. The process is entirely artisan requiring months of work in the atelier: just as Coco would have wanted it to be.
