Why Paris Haute Couture Week is a high jewellery spectacle: Asian artists Cindy Chao, Anna Hu and Michelle Ong join the likes of Cartier, Chanel, Van Cleef & Arpels to release stunning new pieces
- Each July sees runways from Dior, Chanel, Schiaparelli and Valentino, but new haute joaillerie is also displayed at the luxury maisons in the Place Vendôme, or events in the Ritz or Hotel Bristol
- Joining the likes of Tasaki, De Beers and Graff are jewellery artists like Taiwanese designers Cindy Chao and Anna Hu, and Hong Kong’s Michelle Ong with her label Carnet
At the beginning of July, the world’s fashion press, influencers and wealthy clients descend on the French capital for Paris Haute Couture Week, the most glamorous week of the calendar. It is a peak moment for luxury fashion, exclusive dinners and the very best in haute joaillerie.
In between the Dior, Chanel, Schiaparelli and Valentino couture shows, chauffeured clients drop by the luxury maisons in the Place Vendôme where Cartier, Piaget, Van Cleef & Arpels, Chaumet and Chanel set up lavishly decorated presentations showcasing their most exquisite (and expensive) pieces.
The event, from July 3 to 6, is a magnet for high-net-worth clients from around the world to see and be seen. Such is the allure that international brands like Tasaki, De Beers and Graff bring their finest diamonds, rubies and pearls to tempt these sophisticated and discerning customers. That also makes it one of the most important calendar dates for jewellery artists like Taiwanese designers Cindy Chao and Anna Hu.
“Haute Couture Week is the time when high jewellery brands showcase the best of the best,” said Chao, who for the past 10 years has been unveiling her jewellery masterpieces in the elegant surroundings of the Ritz Hotel or the Hotel de la Marine in Place de la Concorde.
“It attracts a more global crowd,” she said. That has helped her cement her brand’s international status. “Many of the art and jewellery collectors, who are existing clients or have been to some of our previous exhibitions and viewings, make sure they visit us during this period in Paris.”
“Of course, Asian clients came back last year to Paris, but they are not the only ones,” said Hu, who is now based in Monaco. “It is also a key moment for American and European ones, as well.” Presenting her novelties in the birthplace of Parisian high jewellery is “definitely a true consecration”, she added.
Hu joined the Fédération de la Haute Couture in 2018 and has presented her collections at the Ritz and the Hotel Bristol, where last year she showed pretty gem-set lotus bud rings that bloomed when swivelled, and an impressively large brushed silver lily with a 265-carat rubellite on a stem-shaped lacquer bracelet, along with various flower-inspired brooches and bangles.
This year she was inspired by Zhang Daqian, the Chinese master painter, and Pierre-Joseph Redouté, Marie Antoinette’s court artist. Zhang’s “Album of Flora” collection was the source for her show-stopper, the vibrant gem-set Celestial Lotus necklace in titanium.