Can high jewellery still surprise us? Paris proves it can

Update — 18 August 2025: The Cartier  Traforato Necklace has now been included, following the end of the embargo.

This summer, Paris Haute Couture Week revealed just how far high jewellery can stretch. Across more than 20 presentations, both storied maisons and rising designers unveiled creations that moved beyond ornament to become objects of thought and emotion — exploring impermanence, natural form, and the shifting boundaries of craftsmanship. We look at the collections under six headings that reflect these shared themes: Nature Reimagined, The Poetry of Impermanence, Echoes of Heritage, Jewels in Motion, the Emotion of Colour, and Golsmithing meets Couture.

1) NATURE REIMAGINED

Nature is always present in high jewellery, but this year, it was far more than a decorative motif. Several houses sought to capture not just beauty but the cycles, contrasts and quiet dramas of the natural world.

Chaumet – 'Wild Rose' Necklace
The Wild Rose necklace sits at the heart of Chaumet’s 2025 'Jewels by Nature' collection and channels the spirit of a 1922 tiara. Echoing its golden stamens and botanical intricacy, the modern design centres on an 8.23-carat Fancy Vivid Yellow diamond, framed by a flourish of brilliant-cut diamonds. Nearly 1,500 hours of craftsmanship went into the articulated, transformable necklace, which can be worn three ways with a single hidden clasp. Romantic yet precise, it sets the tone for a collection rooted in nature’s enduring power.

Inspired by a 1922 tiara, Chaumet’s Wild Rose necklace reinterprets Belle Époque botanical design with a vivid yellow diamond and fluid, articulated lines. High Jewellery collection July 2025.

De Beers – 'Baobab Magnitude'
De Beers continues its exploration of natural inspiration with 'Essence of Nature: Chapter Two', unveiled during Paris Haute Couture Week. Among the highlights is the Baobab Magnitude set, a tribute to Botswana’s ancient baobab tree,  known as the “tree of life.” The earrings combine bold black jet drops with a scattering of Fancy coloured rough and polished diamonds, arranged in organic clusters. With hand-carved jet and intricate diamond settings, they embody the vitality and generosity of the African landscape, while showcasing De Beers’ evolving craftsmanship and connection to its diamond-producing origins. Click here to watch an Instagram reel about the collection. 

Mellerio – 'Jardin des Rêves'

Inspired by a royal tapestry once owned by Marie-Antoinette, Mellerio’s 'Jardin des Rêves' necklace transforms a historic motif — the pineapple — into a glittering contemporary jewel. The vibrant design echoes the queen’s love of exoticism and fantasy through a painterly array of tourmalines, sapphires, tanzanites, heliodores and morganites, each carefully selected for hue and intensity. The house's Naturalist spirit and flair for colour find full expression in this transformable piece, crowned with a diamond-topped pineapple pendant that detaches into earrings. Opulent, joyful, and steeped in French heritage, it’s a wearable reverie.

The pineapple, once a symbol of wealth and rarity in 18th-century France, becomes a detachable pendant in Mellerio’s imaginative tribute to royal fantasy. High Jewellery collection July 2025.

Dior – 'Diorexquis' Brooch
A miniature world of wonder, the Diorexquis brooch by Dior transforms high jewellery into storytelling. A forest tableau unfolds in exquisite detail, where a pink enamelled fawn nestles among sculpted flowers, turquoise berries, and pearl-laden trees. At its heart, a shimmering mother-of-pearl backdrop evokes twilight skies, while diamonds, tsavorites, spinels and lacquered gold capture the whimsical spirit of an enchanted garden — one of three themes explored by Victoire de Castellane in this 163-piece haute joaillerie collection.

Mikimoto – 'Les Pétales'

A masterclass in poetic precision, Mikimoto’s Les Pétales collection captures the fleeting beauty of rose petals swept by the wind. The Japanese house translates this passing moment into jewels that shimmer with Akoya and South Sea pearls, softly glowing morganites, and diamonds. Petals appear to drift across pearl strands or unfurl in the serene curves of conch pearl rings, evoking the fluidity of Nature in motion. Lace-like necklaces and bracelets suggest the ripple of a breeze, while a set of brooches, composed of curving diamond-set lines, cradle conch pearls, Akoya pearls and sapphires in gentle shades of pink and white

Mikimoto captures a petal caught in the breeze with these Les Pétales brooches, combining conch pearls, Akoya pearls, diamonds and pink sapphires. High Jewellery collection July 2025.

2) THE POETRY OF IMPERMANENCE

The most philosophical theme of the season was also the most radical: jewellery as a meditation on time, memory, and change.

Boucheron – 'Impermenance: Composition No.2'
Claire Choisne’s 'Carte Blanche: Boucheron Impermanence' collection draws on the Japanese philosophy of wabi-sabi, where beauty resides in transience, asymmetry and quiet transformation. The collection comprises 30 unique pieces, each presented as a poetic still life — or composition — that can be worn or admired as sculpture. In Composition No.2, a magnolia branch appears mid-bloom, its petals traced in diamond-set aluminium and black ceramic, delicate yet suspended in time. A stick insect in rhodium-plated gold perches among the blossoms, heightening the sense of stillness and fragility. Here, impermanence is not a flaw but the very source of meaning — where high jewellery becomes a meditation on life, decay and the fleeting nature of beauty. Click here to watch an Instagram reel of our visit to Boucheron's unveiling of the 'Impermanence' collection.

Boucheron’s magnolia transforms into a collar or headpiece, while the diamond-set stick insect detaches as a brooch. High Jewellery collection July 2025.

Nikos Koulis – 'Look' Bracelet
From  Nikos Koulis’ 'WISH' collection, the 'Look' bracelet evokes passing moments — like a wish carried on the wind. While it departs from the collection’s dandelion motif, its sculptural form captures the same sense of poetic minimalism. Unlike other 'WISH' pieces made of aluminium, it relies solely on the high-reflective effect of polished white gold paired with diamonds. With bold geometry and Art Deco symmetry, the piece distils Koulis’ Greek heritage into a sharp, contemporary statement.

Nikos Koulis sets 29.62 carats of D-E colour marquise diamonds in high-polished gold for a mirrored flash of minimalism. High Jewellery collection July 2025.

3) ECHOES OF HERITAGE

Many houses drew strength from their archives — not to reproduce, but to reframe history through a contemporary lens.

Graff – '1963'
Graff pays tribute to its founding year with '1963', a high jewellery suite that revives the rebellious glamour of the Swinging Sixties. At its centre, a necklace composed of 7,790 diamonds — oval, baguette and round cuts totalling over 129 carats — traces hypnotic concentric ovals in white gold. A flash of pavé-set emeralds, discreetly tucked beneath the diamonds, offers a signature jolt of Graff green. Precision, energy and elegance converge in one of the house’s most technically ambitious creations to date.

Graff’s 1963 necklace is set with 7,790 diamonds—cut, calibrated and set entirely in-house. High Jewellery collection July 2025.

Pomellato – 'Asimmetrico'
Pomellato’s 'Collezione 1967' is a bold manifesto of the house’s Milanese identity, named for the year the brand was founded. The collection celebrates Pomellato’s spirit of creative independence and its unconventional approach to design. Among the standout pieces is the  'Asimmetrico' necklace, a sculptural collar composed of 78 articulated rose gold segments pavé-set with white diamonds, designed to move fluidly against the skin. Seven aquamarines — each cut in a different shape and size — are set asymmetrically along the front, adding a vibrant splash of blue to the necklace’s graphic volume. 'Asimmetrico' is a striking example of Pomellato’s engineering finesse and chromatic instinct, reimagined in a distinctly contemporary style.  Click here to watch an Instagram reel about the collection. 

Each aquamarine in Pomellato’s Asimmetrico necklace was custom-cut to fit its sculptural curve. High Jewellery collection July 2025.

Gucci – 'Marina Chain' Necklace
Gucci  'Allegoria' High Jewellery collection marks a confident evolution in the house’s  jewellery style, balancing archival codes with colour-forward design. Structured around three core motifs — the Horsebit, Labirinti Gucci, and Marina Chain — the collection explores heritage through bold form and saturated colour. The 'Marina Chain' stands out as a joyful reinterpretation of a 1960s nautical design, transformed into oversized links of pink, green, yellow, orange and blue sapphires and tsavorites. The polished gold and pavé diamonds give the necklace its exuberant, graphic, and distinctly Gucci look, and a clever sophisticated example of heritage reimagined with contemporary flair. Click here to watch our Instagram reel about Gucci. 

Each oversized link of Gucci’s Marina Chain necklace is hand-set with coloured sapphires and tsavorites — over 230 stones in total. High Jewellery collection July 2025.

Chanel – 'Pink Hour' Necklace
The 'Pink Hour' necklace from the 'Reach for the Stars' collection, is the final high jewellery set by the late Patrice Leguéreau, who served as Chanel’s Creative Director of Fine Jewellery from 2009 to 2024. Under his vision, the house developed a distinctive high jewellery language rooted in movement, elegance, and celestial symbolism. This piece belongs to the Wings theme, inspired by Gabrielle Chanel’s maxim: “If you were born without wings, do nothing to prevent them from growing.” Crafted in pink gold and set with an oval-cut pink sapphire and beads, with diamonds, the necklace glows with the hues of dusk. Light, articulated, and radiant, it captures Leguéreau’s enduring flair for poetic precision. Click here to watch an Instagram reel about the collection.