Chaumet’s legacy is celebrated with the eponymous exhibition Promenade Bucolique – a beautiful nod to the brand’s inspirational style that brings together past, present and future.
The exhibit features drawings, sketches, photographs and highlights gathered from iconic collections that draw a world of excellence nurtured over centuries. The dialogue between contemporary jewellery and ancient pieces is the centre theme of the event, with the exhibit exploring the theme of naturalism, a signature trademark of Chaumet style and brand identity.
Source of inspiration
The Maison’s source inspiration is explored in detail to reveal the origin of Chaumet’s secret to the creation of trend-setting jewellery. The brand’s first boutique that opened doors in 1970 has gained a legendary status of a place of worship and one that embodies the soul and spirit of Chaumet’s vision and legacy.
A style finds its way
Promenade Bucolique reveals a collection from the Romantic period to the 1980s, displaying the origins and the meticulous process of creating a piece. This myriad of visual, sensory and documentary stimuli perfectly demonstrates the evolution of Chaumet’s style through the centuries.
Natural history
Chaumet’s naturalist jewellery depicts nature in all its wild, organic, fragile glory. Finding bucolic beauty in a garden, woodland or meadow, delicate blades of grass or the graphic forms of mistletoe, the Maison’s designers ingeniously render plants and weeds alike in graceful, inspired creations. Often with an added touch of sophistication – a bow entwined around a freshly-cut branch – they elevate the most ordinary plants to the status of jewellery. Species are chosen for their cultural significance, imbuing the jewellery with symbolic value. This taming of the wild, a saga of nature versus refinement, is the dynamic that drives Chaumet’s natural history.
Sculpted lines
It all starts with a simple drawing. It captures an idea; it communicates a fleeting emotion and it relays the designer’s inner vision for beauty and harmony. Executed with precision and architectural minimalism, the sparing sketches are a true testament to the talent of Chaumet’s designers. It becomes clear that, much like the concept of the tabula rasa, the birth of a truly precious piece of jewellery begins with a single line drawn on a blank piece of paper.
Treasured mementos
Since 1885, Chaumet has instilled a meticulous system of documenting and photographing every piece created or repaired in its workshops. This has led to the accumulation of a unique record of the jewellery design process that tells a tale of evolution and growth.
With regards to Promenade Bucolique, Chaumet continues to draw inspiration from earthly motifs, with a particular focus on one-of-a-kind or limited-edition pieces that define its Jardins collections.
The bee figures in the new fine jewellery collection are delicate, vibrant and alive with movement. The colour palette resembles the natural nuances of yellows, oranges and greens: with a generous use of mandarin and hessonite garnets, opal, tourmalines, peridots, topazes, yellow sapphires, green beryls, diamonds and golden pearls. The resulting dynamic compositions are embellished with delicate detailing and display enchanting play of light and shadow through the myriad mixture of colours and textures.
The 13-piece collection features two versatile necklaces that can be transformed into brooches with the help of a hidden mechanism, two rings and a bracelet, two signet rings, two pairs of sleeper earrings and three brooches. The most eponymous piece comprises a bee on the tourbillon of an eegant watch, mounted on white gold set with a generous display of diamonds, sapphires, spessartite garnets and tourmalines.
The limited-edition Épi de Blé ring and brooch, exclusively designed for this exhibition, reminisces a wheat sheaf tiara from 1811, recreating its refined and regal glamour.
Joséphine’s choice
References to the style of Empress Joséphine are seen throughout the pieces with a subtle nod to the finesse and opulent decadence that defined an entire era of the French royal court.
