Transcript
|Maria Doulton: Baselworld is not just about watches. There's plenty of jewellery here too. So I've been round to see lots of different producers of jewellery and here's some things that I think you might like to have a look at.
I was interested to come and see Bulgari, because as of one year ago, they were bought by the LVMH Group, meaning that they're part of a much larger conglomerate but their strong Italian style is clearly evident with large cabochon cut stones and bright colours.
What is very strong this year for Bulgari is the Serpenti watch. Now the Serpenti watch has been with Bulgari for several decades and perhaps the most famous example is the 1961 Serpenti that belonged to Elizabeth Taylor and was sold at auction for almost US$1m, 65 times its initial value.
Other watches of interest are this Maserati watch, which picks up on the colours of this prestigious car company as well as some of the details that you would find inside and outside the car.
Now I'm with one of the most legendary names in jewellery, which is, of course, Fabergé and with me is Katharina Fiohr, the creative and managing director of Fabergé. In her hands has been the renaissance of this brand.
Katharina Fiohr: I think the first and most important thing for us was to bring back the art of making beautiful things and investing in the craft and working with select exquisite craftspeople all over Europe.
Maria Doulton: What could be more recognisable for Fabergé than the eggs.
Katharina Fiohr: So here you see sort of the first harvest, which is a combination of everything from enamel to sets to engine- turned and hand engraved. We've worked with the finest and most wonderful and dear craftspeople over the course of the last years to create these more or less one-off pieces.
This is part of a series of high jewellery eggs that we made. This one does have a surprise, and you can open it, there we are.
Maria Doulton: Oh, beautiful.
In the vast halls of Baselworld, one name always stands out for me and that's Chopard, which is still a family owned company. As well as creating the most fabulous red carpet diamonds, this year, creative director for jewellery and co-president, Caroline Scheufele, is exploring colour even further. We see emeralds, we see rubellites, we see tanzanite - all sorts of shades of colour coming together in unusual combinations.
But there's something even more unusual, and this little necklace is composed of small diamond-set rats.
Now I am with Fawaz Gruosi at de Grisogono. Last year it was all about black, wasn't it, Fawaz?
Fawaz Gruosi: Yes.
Maria Doulton: So this year it's all about?
Fawaz Gruosi: Colour. Mixing colour, which gives happiness to the clients.
Maria Doulton: They're big, they're bold and they're bright, and they're for a woman who knows that she wants jewels that will stand out from the crowd. This collection Fawaz Gruosi has described is a melody of colours so you can expect to see some eye-searingly bright stones such as the Paraiba tourmaline or the soft glow of a moonstone.
But when I asked Fawaz what his favourite colour was, it turns out that it's green, which is why we see so many emeralds.
Fawaz Gruosi: You will go out from here happy. Colours make people happy.
Maria Doulton: Colours do make me happy indeed. So I'm glad you've gone back to colour.
