High jewellery season came and went in sumptuous style, as ever. From a Viennese fling with Cartier and pure American luxury with Tiffany & Co. at the Beverley Estate in Los Angeles, to sojourns in some of the world’s most romantic cities – Venice with Chaumet and Rome, of course, with Bulgari – jewellers were out to impress.
Not only with dazzling feats of savoir faire and exceptional gemstones, but in the presentation of their new collections. After all, wooing a high jewellery client takes serious time and effort. This year’s collections were audacious, with an emphasis on pushing technique to the limit in pieces requiring thousands of hours to make, all still done by hand.
A profound reminder of this very human endeavour is learning that in a career of 40 years, an artisan in the Cartier high jewellery workshop may make “just” 40 pieces. In an increasingly competitive category – with the likes of luxury fashion houses Louis Vuitton, Chanel and Dior going up against traditional jewellers such as Cartier, Bulgari and Tiffany & Co. – dazzling the world’s most desired clients with ever more exceptional pieces has become de rigueur.
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