High jewelry: Mellerio royal and Gucci pop

For more than ten years now, historic houses, as well as new players from the fashion world, have been taking advantage of the spotlight on Paris during the four days of couture shows to present their most beautiful jewels. They benefit from the presence of the international press, but also and above all from a clientele often shared with fashion brands. Over the years, jewelers have nevertheless multiplied the events dedicated to them in the four corners of Europe, even the world, in the months of May and June. This year, the most fortunate international clients were thus invited for a few days, and with a program tailored to put them in the best mood, by Cartier in Stockholm , Bulgari in Taormina , Chaumet in Marbella , Chanel in Kyoto ... Approximately half of the collections would be sold on this occasion. However, most of the houses are still exhibiting in Paris these days the remaining pieces, those that the magnanimous buyers have agreed to leave with them for a few weeks, but also the second "wave" coming out of the workshops.

This Parisian event is all the more important for those who haven't organized major celebrations abroad. This is why Gucci, this week, showcased a few unique, richly jeweled pieces in its Avenue Montaigne boutique, the second chapter of its Labirinti collection, presented last spring on the Amalfi Coast. There are also high jewelry versions of two of its iconic motifs, Horsebit and Marina Chain—a first. The choker with XXL links paved with multicolored sapphires makes you want to go dancing in Capri. The highlight of the visit turns out to be the collaboration between two Italian institutions of the Kering group, Gucci and Pomellato, eleven models, two of which were unveiled during the cruise show in Florence in mid-May, while the Italian giant awaits, like the Messiah, the arrival of its new artistic director, Demna (who ends his contract at Balenciaga with the most anticipated couture show of the week). Everyone is wondering if he will set his sights on jewelry, as did his predecessor Alessandro Michele. In the meantime, the very successful Gucci × Pomellato capsule, mixing leather and diamonds, handmade in Milan (with prices ranging from 85,000 to 450,000 euros), bears the sweet name of Monili, "a poetic way of saying 'jewel' in Italian," a Milanese tells us.

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The oldest Parisian jeweler, Mellerio , still in the hands of the founding family (the fourteenth generation!), was present in his boutique on rue de la Paix this week, but was hosting dinner at the Palace of Versailles last week. He unveiled a very precious and colorful set, evoking Marie-Antoinette, one of his clients and a great lover of... pineapples. While this fruit can be found today on almost every market gardener's stall throughout the year, in the ^18th century it was a delicious rarity. Nicknamed "the king of fruits", notably because of its crown of leaves, it made its appearance at the French court at the time of Louis XV - a great fan of botany - who managed to grow the first specimen in the greenhouses of Versailles. The event is immortalized by a famous painting by Oudry, like a portrait of the exotic fruit. Marie-Antoinette adored this painting and installed it in the Cabinet Doré in her private apartments. She also had a fabric made in twenty-seven colors (no small feat) depicting this South American plant, which she would use to cover her private dining room. Historians say that the pineapple, which was becoming very fashionable, was rarely eaten at the time, but rather used to decorate a sumptuous table, and could even be rented for an occasion!

Two and a half centuries later, this delicious story inspired Laure-Isabelle Mellerio, president and artistic director of the family business . She designed a unique set that appeared on rue de la Paix, a necklace called Jardin des Rêves and composed of 22 colored stones, in shades close to those of the royal drapery, ranging from the soft pink of morganite to the electric blue of tanzanite, from the solar yellow of beryl to the bright red of rubellite... In the center hangs a delicious pineapple in gold mesh studded with multicolored sapphires and diamonds that can be detached and worn as an earring. Finally, to complete the story, the box of this piece of high jewelry, with its two handles, is a nod to the marmot of Jean-Baptiste Mellerio who at the time attracted the attention of Queen Marie-Antoinette at the gates of the castle with a cameo bracelet, today in the archives of the house.