Sneak Peek: The First Wave of 2024 High Jewelry and Three Emerging Trends You Can’t Miss!

During Paris Haute Couture Week in January, a group of jewelry brands typically unveil a portion of their new high jewelry creations. Let’s take an early look at the latest masterpieces from Boucheron, Chaumet, De Beers, Louis Vuitton, and other brands! Although not as numerous as in July, we can still get a glimpse of the jewelry trends for 2024 and take an early “pulse” of the high jewelry circle.

Jewelry and fashion are always closely intertwined, as jewelry is not just a collectible art piece but also the finishing touch that complements the overall look. Therefore, many jewelry designers draw inspiration from fashion, resulting in pieces that offer more advantages in terms of wearability and versatility.

Boucheron typically releases its classic-inspired Histoire de Style high jewelry collection every January. This time, Creative Director Claire Choisne discovered a previously overlooked detail in the brand’s history: the founder Frédéric Boucheron’s father was a master of fabrics.

As a result, the 24 pieces of high jewelry released this season draw inspiration from fashion, reinterpreting ancient embroidery, buttons, bows, pom-poms, and even military epaulettes and ribbon sashes for medals in jewelry form.

Claire Choisne said, “I decided to deconstruct symbols of power and repurpose them. The designs in this collection are like ancient royal jewelry parures that can be flexibly disassembled and combined, worn in multiple ways to create personal jewelry styles.”

For example, the “Médailles” necklace consists of 15 “medal” pendants carved from a single piece of natural crystal. Carefully engraved with a satin texture, they can form a choker necklace or be worn individually as brooches.

The “Le Noeud” is a crystal “bow” necklace with six wearing options. It can be worn as a brooch or shoulder ornament, and the central pear-shaped diamond can be detached and worn as a ring. The crystal bow is incredibly flexible, consisting of 435 frosted crystal tubes set on an ultra-thin white gold frame, allowing it to drape like a satin ribbon. This piece took 2,600 hours to complete.

There’s also a pair of epaulettes called “Les épaulettes,” inspired by Queen Mary’s crown made in 1902. They are delicate, nimble, and extremely flexible, and can also be worn as bracelets.

Beyond various fashion components, this collection also recreates different fabric textures using jewelry materials. For instance, the “Le Tricot” necklace mimics the knitting technique of military fourragères using hand-carved crystal. The “Le Col” necklace constructs an exquisite lace jewelry collar with diamonds that seem to float in the air.

Dior, as a pillar of Paris Haute Couture Week, didn’t miss the opportunity to capture global fashion media attention. They released their latest high jewelry collection, Dior Délicat, paying homage to their glorious fashion history.

Creative Director Victoire de Castellane always manages to deeply explore the classic elements that this fashion empire prides itself on, using jewelry to engage in a dialogue with Monsieur Dior’s classic works across time and space.

This new high jewelry collection of 79 pieces focuses on the craftsmanship details of haute couture, which is the essence of Haute Couture. She uses diamonds, rubies, sapphires, red tourmalines, and tanzanites to create complex “embroidery,” arranging diamonds in floral patterns to present a flowing lace effect.

The intricate diamond setting in gold mimics neat “stitches,” while rose gold is even hand-carved into lace “ribbons”…

In essence, she fully leverages Dior’s advantage – possessing both the talent and expertise to create haute couture and high jewelry. As a preview, our February issue features the latest high jewelry pieces shot during Paris Haute Couture Week, with a mysterious cover guest showcasing Dior’s latest high jewelry collection.

Naturalism is a classic trend in the high jewelry circle, appearing almost every year as a “staple,” but each time it presents itself with a completely different new face. This year, major jewelry brands have unanimously chosen to use abstract methods to celebrate this inexhaustible source of inspiration.

Louis Vuitton’s Deep Time high jewelry collection‘s second chapter made its grand debut in Paris on January 23rd. You might remember that this collection explores the mysterious history from Earth’s birth to the emergence of life, celebrating Earth’s geological wonders?

This second chapter continues to take us on a journey through time. Creative Director Francesca Amfitheatrof presents 50 new pieces, filled with dazzling abstract patterns inspired by the ever-changing tectonic plates and earliest life forms.

The crustal changes of Gondwana and Laurasia mark the origins of Earth’s evolution. The “Laurasia” theme pieces cleverly blend yellow diamonds with platinum, yellow gold, and rose gold, simulating the transformation of continental plates.

The “Skin” theme presents interlocking geometric patterns from the material and natural worlds, aiming to explore the unique connections in life patterns. The brand’s classic Damier checkerboard pattern is densely arranged, reminiscent of the origin of countless civilizations – the serpent. The designer used nearly 300 Umba sapphires to create delicate, shimmering scales. These treasures from Tanzania’s Umba River radiate a unique orange-pink glow.

The “Symbiosis” theme focuses on the microscopic world of nature – fungi and mycelium. Francesca uses spinels in soft pink, purple, and light blue hues to construct a multi-chain necklace. The variously shaped spinels are arranged in a staggered layout, cleverly depicting the wonderful state of microbial symbiosis.

Chaumet Paris has always been a master of naturalism. Remember the trembling jewelry of flowers blooming in the wind? Or the romantic and light egret feather tiara? Especially those free spirits flying in the sky, which are the brand’s specialty. In 2024, Chaumet Paris released a new high jewelry collection called “Un Air de Chaumet,” once again capturing the ethereal beauty of birds in flight with dazzling jewels.

However, compared to the lifelike “hummingbird” egret feather tiara created by Joseph Chaumet years ago, this time Chaumet Paris uses abstract points, lines, and planes to outline the elegant posture of flying birds.

These minimalist geometric elements effortlessly capture the vitality of small birds. For example, the Ballet theme depicts the scene of swallows dancing in the air with a pair of earrings and a convertible hair accessory. With just simple silhouettes, you can feel the vibrant energy of swallows returning in spring.

The Envol theme jewelry is inspired by the mysterious kingfisher, using only graceful, flowing curves to construct the wonderful sensation of a bird gently brushing past hair and ears with flapping wings. Moreover, it’s a multifunctional piece of jewelry that can be worn as a hair accessory or converted into a brooch, or even two separate brooches.

De Beers’ depiction of nature invariably focuses on the African continent, after all, it’s the original source of diamonds. The brand has launched a new high jewelry collection called “Forces of Nature,” featuring eight striking rings that portray representative creatures of southern Africa.

Abstract lines created with diamond pavé carve out the typical characteristics of savanna animals, emphasizing a concept that can be understood but not easily explained. For instance, the “Lion Jacket” ring features a 5.09-carat triangular cut diamond as the lion’s unique “face shape,” surrounded by gold beaded “mane.” Of course, you can also remove the “mane” and wear the “lion face” separately.

Particularly appealing is the crown-style ring inspired by the greater kudu, called “Greater Kudu.” The spiraling upward curves effortlessly capture the antelope’s distinctive features. You can wear the complete version for stylish outings, but for more formal occasions, you can remove the “horns” and let the single 2.01-carat cushion-cut center diamond command presence on its own.

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Jewelry can become collectible largely due to the rare materials used. However, as time passes, the high jewelry world is no longer satisfied with simply competing over who has the biggest diamond or the best gemstone. Masters are more eager for innovation. The development and application of various new materials, and unexpected combinations of gemstones, always bring about a surprising beauty beyond imagination.

Cartier is considered a leader in this aspect, having introduced a large number of Oriental gemstones to clash with traditional ones in the 20th century, sparking a trend in the jewelry world. Starting from 2023, the Le Voyage Recommencé high jewelry collection began to tour the world’s beauty, drawing from various strengths.

The latest chapter at the beginning of the year is a continuation, once again drawing inspiration from flora and fauna, using the shapes, tones, and textures of various gemstones to create a journey that spans world cultures.

During Paris Haute Couture Week, Cartier reopened the salon doors of the Ritz Hotel at Place Vendôme, showcasing the latest chapter of Le Voyage Reccomencé to guests. The “Yfalos” high jewelry necklace combines lively turquoise with vibrant carved coral, balanced with emerald beads, mixing the different textures of these three gemstones to create a mysterious underwater world.

Another necklace, “Panthère Confiante,” pays homage to the brand’s classic panther image. It brings together a variety of gemstones including peridot, coral, banded agate, emerald, and diamonds, showcasing Cartier’s iconic red, green, and black color contrast. The panther appears more spirited amidst the warm and lively gemstone hues.

The renowned London jeweler David Morris has also launched the Skye high jewelry collection. Named after the youngest daughter of the brand’s CEO and Creative Director Jeremy Morris, it features many uniquely colored gemstones to capture the fleeting and magical beauty of the Arctic aurora.

Cobalt spinel, Paraiba tourmaline, pink diamonds, lagoon tourmaline, Colombian emeralds… These rare and special gemstones, combined with exquisite and multi-layered settings, create the brilliance of the aurora.

Although most of the new high jewelry collections for Spring 2024 were launched in historic Paris, Fernando Jorge chose Sotheby’s London as the venue to showcase his latest series. You can view this jewelry master’s unique creations from January 22 to February 2, 2024.

In addition to the common diamonds, gold, and colored gemstones, Brazilian pebbles, marble, and amber fossils appear in Fernando Jorge’s designs, pushing the boundaries of our definition of jewelry materials. These materials, long polished by nature, combine with gemstones to present a softer, more organic effect.

The designer favors a sense of fluidity and groundbreaking material combinations. For instance, an emerald ring is not set in metal but directly inlaid in malachite. He believes that the patterns of malachite evoke the ripples of water, and a transparent emerald set in the center perfectly captures the fresh and lively essence of a mountain stream.

He also sourced brown pebbles from a park in Brazil where diamonds were once unearthed in riverbeds. He then arranged these spherical pebbles in bracelets, rings, and earrings, interspersing them with matching brown diamonds, like points of light inserted into the mountains.

These unusual material combinations ensure that Fernando Jorge’s works are one-of-a-kind. If you wear them, you’re guaranteed to receive envious glances and constant inquiries of “Where did you find that?”

So, isn’t this first wave of high jewelry in 2024 stunning enough? We hope you can draw some jewelry inspiration from this and achieve your own breakthroughs in collecting and styling.