France is the heartland of jewellery and the stage for the most significant industry events, uniting the global community through a calendar of launches and exhibitions closely tied to the powerhouses of haute couture. In this article, I look to France's jewellers to report on trends making waves worldwide. Francéclat, the French Economic Development Committee that represents France's jewellery, watchmaking, and tableware creators, compiled an analysis of the dominant themes emerging from leading jewellers for the year.
Two themes stand out: Odyssey, which captures the wonder of travel, exotic lands, lush landscapes, and golden shores crystallised in organic shapes, awe-inspiring volumes, extravagant forms, and vibrant colours. The second theme is Cosmic Reflections, anchored in contemporary design with fluid, clean lines, bold geometry, and mesmerising symmetry.
Let's take a closer look at Odyssey, a buzzword in the wake of Chris Nolan's epic interpretation of Homer's foundational poem. Beyond the obvious Grecian and Classical themes, jewellers travel through time and around the world, creating jewels that explore origin myths. Ashaha's gold and diamond shield-shaped ring pays homage to Kahina (above), the legendary Berber warrior queen.
The Isyce Grec ring (above) by Mashandy is a contemporary take on classic Greek aesthetics and its ancient script, with a sky-blue sapphire set in a stark, facetted bronze band. The power of the star as a guiding amulet is channelled in Raphaëlle Coqblin's Crush Nova ring set with diamonds and a vivid green indicolite that has universal and enduring appeal.
On this Odyssey, rare plants captured in the phrase 'botanical metamorphoses' offer a glimpse of nature’s abundance and allure. D1928 stays close to home with the Pinède ring (above), which recalls the unmistakable silhouettes of lofty umbrella pines of the French Riviera in diamonds, pearls, and gold. Exotic exuberance is expressed in Dorothée Potocka's L'Horizon Orange ring, with three vivid red coral beads that grow out of honeycombed leaves; the gold is painstakingly hand-engraved using the rigato technique, which makes minute carvings in the precious metal, giving it a plant-like softness. The rare vanilla cactus, which blooms for just one night, was a favourite of Queen Marie-Antoinette and is transformed by Mellerio, the world's oldest family-owned jeweller, into the delicate Le Petit Cactus rose gold ring with coloured diamonds. The graceful beauty of a flower in bud is recreated using pink tourmalines in the Mélusine Poudre d'Escampette ring by Garnazelle. Clusters of yellow gold orbs dusted with white and brown diamonds form a pompom of buds in the Mathon Paris Lilas ring.
One of the greatest joys of travel is to immerse oneself in the vibrant colours of distant oceans, dramatic skyscapes and dazzling far-flung wonders. The soft blue tinges that gently fade to pink and orange of a tropical nightfall are brilliantly expressed in Alix Dumas' Eternity Sunset earrings (above) set with sapphires and diamonds. A stalwart of the Parisian jewellery scene, Lorenz Bäumer turns his love of surfing into the Aqua Horse ring (below), featuring an unusual pearl from the Horse Conch, covered in synthetic sapphire and set with diamonds, embraced by wave-like ribbons of diamond-flecked gold.
The striking rippling patterns of abalone shell are celebrated in Min&ral’s Shella Abalone pendant in rose gold framed by peridots and freshwater pearls. Rouvenat, a historic French jewellery house revived in 2022, prides itself on ethically sourced materials and combines a zesty green peridot surrounded by a halo of reclaimed diamonds and black ceramic studs in the Frame ring with a twisted gold band.
'Cosmic reflections' look to the night sky that never ceases to be a source of inspiration and the 'celestial mechanics' trend brings us a contemporary, stylised interpretation of the heavens. Dinh Van has a longstanding profile as one of Paris' style leaders in jewellery, and the Le Cube Diamant earrings (above) with their achingly chic minimalism remind us why this house is well-loved.
Vever may be 200 years old, but in its recently reimagined form, its Art Nouveau heritage adapts to changing times through thoughtful use of diamonds reclaimed from old jewellery and recycled into inspiring, dynamic, streamlined designs such as the Embrace ring. The Radiant choker (above) sets a galaxy of stars orbiting the neck in Marie Mas's creation, embodying the designer's ethos of 'jewellery in motion.' Djula's Graphique Double C ring wraps a cascade of stars around the finger in fine bands of white gold set with diamonds.
Jewellers gaze at the stars with a contemporary point of view, bringing us the idea of 'modern constellations' as captured by Tracia with the Sky High giant earrings (above) in yellow gold that allude to the pattern of stars with stark simplicity. Copin brings a futuristic sci-fi feel to the Arctic Dune ring (below) in white gold, with aquamarine and diamonds hinting at the icy surface of a planet and its haunting blue light.
Light and dark, day and night or 'chiaroscuro' to use the Italian Renaissance term, is given a new twist by Nouvel Héritage's Tuxedo Mood bangle in white gold and diamonds or Akillis' Capture Me open bangle that contrasts mirror-polished white gold with inky black titanium.
The theme expands into cosmic resonances, where bands of light appear in white and yellow gold in Maison Marcelle's striped Equation bracelet (lead image) or JEM's Via XXl single earring, with a lab-grown diamond surrounded by semicircles made of concentric arcs of white-gold ridges.
