Once the debutante’s ball marked the entry of 18-year-old girls into society. The dance was reserved for girls and boys of rich and aristocratic families. The girls debutantes bowed before the queen (in Britain), they wore white clothes, gloves and tiaras. This tradition has been forgotten for many years, to come back into vogue in the late 1980s. The problem is that now the girls don’t wait 18 years to attend parties and living rooms. The arrival of social networks, like Facebook or Instagram, has also made sociality a universal phenomenon. So what’s the point of a (almost) debutante’s dance today? Yet from Vienna to Paris they are still organized.
In France, for exemple, the traditional debutante ball was organized from 1957 to 1973. But in 1994, Ophélie Renouard invented a modern version, which he called Le Bal. It is a dance evening which, in addition, aims to raise funds for charity. And, given that the girls have largely attended parties and social events, the real debut thanks to Le Bal is the media one, including photos published in gossip magazines and specialized websites. The idea has its own logic.
Le Bal also smells of exclusivity: only about twenty selected young women and as many cavaliers can participate, along with guests (non-debs) willing to pay for the event. By regulation, the knights wear the classic white tie, while the haute couture houses dress the Debs.
In a world that is always connected without borders, the Debs and the knights come from around 12 different countries and include the sons of famous managers, entrepreneurs, aristocrats, with a splash of the entertainment world. Some names to give an idea: Princess Fawzia Latifa of Egypt, Princess Sarah Poniatowska, Princess Adishree Singh, Princess Gauravi Kumari of Jaipur, Princess Akshita Bhanjdeo, Ananya Panday, Isha Ambani, Ashna Mehta, Elisabeth Senghor, Diane and Chloé Bouygues, Caroline and Nadine Ghosn. Or, this year, Jane Li, daughter of the iconic star of the Chinese action movie Jet Li.
What does the debutante dance have to do with jewelry? Well, for 2019 the official jeweler of the event, organized at the Shangri-La Hotel in Paris, was the Indian Harakh Mehta. His House, Harakh, a word that means joy, has provided high jewelry with pear-cut diamonds. The Maison is famous for its diamonds, mounted on platinum or 18k gold, and stones of color D, E, F and VS, VVS or IF (internally impeccable).
Harakh Mehta is a fourth-generation diamond specialist: family activity began in the early twentieth century between Gujarat and Rajasthan, and is currently based in Mumbai. The biographical note of the specific jeweler who habitually practices yoga and meditation. But, perhaps, now he also loves the ball.
