Dior à Versailles: the latest high jewelry collection at the French maison is inspired by the flamboyant palace, symbol of the nation’s grandeur. Yet that of Victoire de Castellane, is not a simple review of the baroque decorations, but an exercise in imagination, «I imagined Versailles by night, where the stones glistened in the candlelight». For example, the ones of the three thousand lights in large chandeliers which at the time were reflected in the amazing Hall of Mirrors. A blazing that is expressed in diamond drops from the curved lines and flat surfaces in Galerie des Glaces ring and earrings, while the astonishing necklace appear composed randomly.
In all cases the effect is extremely light due to 18th-century jewelry making techniques, diamonds setting in blackened silver, white and pink gold and platinum, and very traditional cuts stones but asymmetrically clustered. So large sapphires, emeralds and rubies are set on precious metal bands and recall the wooden moldings of the Chambre du Roi (the bedroom of the King), the curtains of the apartments of the royal ladies, or the sun emblem of Apollo Salon where was the throne. And again, the imposing geometry of the black and white marble courtyard, softer and sinuous in the Cour de Marbre cuff and necklace with round diamonds set in silver blackened intersecting with a row of rectangular diamonds. In short, a blast from the past that speaks to present.
