Chopard’s 2016 Red Carpet Collection has been described as an “anthem to femininity” by the Swiss watch and jewellery house, which has also expanded its Green Carpet line with ethically sourced coloured stones.

The new collection will worn by leading stars at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival, which runs from May 11 to 22 in Cannes, France.

Unveiled each year at the festival, the event provides Chopard with an opportunity to push the boundaries of haute joaillerie while expressing cherished values. 

Worn by leading actresses on the famous steps of the Palais des Festivals, Red Carpet pieces draw as much from the exceptional creativity of the Swiss-based maison as on its expertise in high jewellery. 

Several Green Carpet creations gracing this collection feature stunning emeralds from Zambia and illustrate Chopard’s firmly rooted determination to combine ethics with aesthetics. 

Since 1998, Chopard has served as official partner of the Cannes Film Festival. The Red Carpet collection resulting from this partnership was introduced in 2007 to mark the 60^th anniversary of the festival. Intended to adorn stars for their red carpet appearances, the creations stem from the imagination of Chopard Co-President and Creative Director Caroline Scheufele. 

Each year Chopard challenges itself to increase the number of unique jewellery pieces created to match the number of festival editions to date, the number of creations that emerge from the workshop grows by one each year. 

So the 69^th iteration of the event this year will be celebrated with 69 creations inspired by women and their magnificent aura. 


IN PRAISE OF FEMININITY 

The 2016 collection sets the stage for flowing, supple, open worked designs based on rounded shapes. Evoking veils or lacework that gently caress the skin, it pays tribute to the graceful, voluptuous charm of women and highlights their feminine beauty. The collection focuses on the necklace, the ultimate adornment that accentuates the delicate lines of a décolletage and the silky softness of the skin whether it is draped with a spectacular necklace with matching earrings featuring a merry dance of daffodil yellow and white pear-cut and brilliant-cut diamonds or a delightful choker with slender diamond-set scrolling motifs. 

Alongside rubies, sapphires, diamonds and emeralds of exceptional cut and quality, these necklaces also reveal the most unexpected gems. Black opals, fire opals and sculpted jade in turn enjoy their moment in the limelight. Testifying to this splendid range of colours is a superbly sensual tie-necklace composed of five rows of emerald beads hemmed by sapphires, rubellites, tsavorites, topazes and amethysts, setting the scene for a magnificent white opal. 

Several creations also feature titanium, a solid yet light innovative material that ideally lends itself to majestic decors and atypical shapes. The use of this metal enables even more fanciful and daring touches in that it can be coloured in a wide range of hues, either vanishing beneath the finest gemsetting, or enhancing the radiance of the stones it holds. This alliance is admirably embodied in wide earrings inspired by a paisley motif and set with cabochon-cut sapphires, topazes as well as blue and orange sapphires.


THE JOURNEY CONTINUES

Launched at the 66^th Cannes Film Festival, Chopard’s Journey to Sustainable Luxury is designed to foster the development of responsible luxury. Since then, a Green Carpet capsule collection has found its place within the Red Carpet collection. These creations are crafted exclusively with Fairmined-certified gold – a label guaranteeing that gold has been mined and processed in compliance with environmental and ethical standards – and with diamonds sourced from the IGC group of Belgium, which is certified by the UK-based Responsible Jewellery Council’s Code of Practices.

The appearance of coloured stones among the “sustainable” creations in the collection is a new development this year and a result of Chopard’s new partnership with the Gemfields group, a global leader in the mining of coloured stones. 

In an industry first, emeralds from Zambia will be fully validated by Eco-Age - a brand consultancy specialising in sustainable solutions and Chopard’s partner in delivering the Journey to Sustainable Luxury - through its Green Carpet Challenge (GCC) principles of sustainable excellence. 

These gems are an example of international best practice in coloured gemstone mining, making an important contribution to the country’s sustainable development. For the first time, Chopard introduces responsible coloured gemstones in its Green Carpet Collection, thereby creating totally ethical and traceable creations associating emeralds, diamonds from an RJC certified diamond trader and Fairmined 18-carat white gold. 

Their peerless colours, their elegance and their delicacy make them one of Scheufele’s favourite stones. Based around these precious emeralds she has created an extremely elegant jewellery set composed of a ring, a necklace and earrings.