Occupying a place between earth and sky, the new High Jewellery capsule Un Air de Chaumet writes a unique chapter in the story woven between Chaumet and nature over 240 years. Depicting the grace of birds with dexterity and daring, from aerial display to sky-slicing flight, the parures cast their creativity around the face, spreading their plumage from hair to bodice and gently caressing the ear. Following on from 2023’s poetic promenade Le Jardin de Chaumet, the previous High Jewellery collection, the new creations cultivate the Maison’s celebrated innovative originality. In a play on words, the collection’s name subtly evokes the notes of a melody. Attesting to the emblematic art of the line, Un Air de Chaumet is a virtuoso demonstration of the sophistication and savoir-faire associated with the Maison’s High Jewellery, expressed creatively and delicately in elementary pieces. Illuminating the purity of the artisans’ work, they convey the movement between earth and sky, bringing a sense of innate refinement to any look. With inherent lightness, transformable hair ornaments can be worn in a multitude of ways to correspond to a wide wardrobe, while brooches and earrings illuminate an allure aligning modern poetry and freedom.
Appointed by Joséphine as “official jeweller to the Empress”, the founder of the Maison, Marie-Étienne Nitot, and his son, François Regnault, shared the sovereign’s fascination with birds. The naturalistic interpretation by Chaumet of the winged world has been repeatedly reinvented over the years. The archives bear witness to this, from Jules Fossin’s studies of bird heads and legs to the peacock feathers transcribed as a transformable devant de corsage and tiara by Prosper Morel dating from around 1870. At the turn of the 20th century, the realism of Joseph Chaumet’s winged bandeau competed with the hummingbird aigrette transformable into a brooch with fil couteau mount, a Chaumet signature along with trompe-l’œil. His creations prefigure the stylised feathers in finely wrought yellow gold from the 1960s and 1970s, of which the bird perched on a pearl flowered branch and the kingfisher darting through the air are stunning examples. Conceived in four movements composed as duos, Un Air de Chaumet represents the mesmerizing magic of a bird’s flight. Playing with the possibilities of golden feathers, the parures suggest the grace of a ballet of swallows before segueing into fascinatingly ethereal aerobatics and culminating in a stunning spectacle. A veritable ode to this most precious of materials, these pieces honour the Maison’s renowned virtuosity in gold. Featuring brushed rose gold feathers alternating with diamond-set white gold, a first parure rethinks the signature Chaumet tiara. Worn as a panache in the hair, the complete motif is a testament to contemporary femininity.
Separated from each other, the feathers sit elegantly amid a multitude of brooches, offering a new demonstration of the Maison’s prized fondness for transformability. As a hair ornament, the motif delineates a bird with a pear-shaped diamond head, Joséphine’s favourite cut. Ultra- flexible and impactful ear motifs light up the face. Portraying the aerial ballet of swallows, earrings and a hair ornament that can be transformed into one or two motifs elevate the emblematic Chaumet art of the line. Embraced by the Maison since the 19th century, this passerine has acquired a new and profoundly feminine charm. Inscribed in the tradition of nature observed from life at which Chaumet excels, nine birds light up hair with diamond plumage, their beaks and tails glowing in brightly polished rose gold.
The fluidity of the bead setting combined with a delicate cut-down setting underlines the virtuosity of the Chaumet jewellers. Making up a unisex brooch, the swallows soar on tailored or more relaxed outfits alike. And when it swoops over the ear with its marquise-cut diamond head, the bird is more a universal symbol of happiness than ever. Captured in shimmering momentum, the bird of paradise appearing in this parure provides a fascinating display in an asymmetrical brooch and earrings. These marry Chaumet-specific boldness and movement to emphasise the modernity of the effect.
Ear studs and ornaments are designed to be worn singly or in combination around the face illuminated by feathers punctuated with bead-set diamonds in white gold and diamonds scale-set in rose gold guilloché engraved by hand. Inspired by the firebird, the plumage unfurls its flamboyance into a brooch that is as spectacular as it is elegant. The lightness suggests flapping wings softly brushing the hair or ear. For this parure, the virtuosity of the 12 Vendôme workshops has produced a head ornament that can be transformed into a brooch that can, in turn, be divided into two motifs. Creation rhymes with ascension as the bead and scale settings, enabling a delicate overlap of the diamonds, dialogue with an illusion setting combining a bezel and claw setting. The result is an airy structure in which the stones seem almost to float. Rising from the hair, white gold plumage appears ruffled by the wind. A sense of movement boldly animates asymmetrical earrings evoking the features of a winged companion, embellished with pear-shaped diamonds.
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