1 / 1
Charriol CEO and creative director Coralie Charriol-Paul speaks on how she carries both her father’s name and his legacy as she helms the eponymous jewellery brand
In the VIP sitting room at Rustan’s Makati, Coralie Charriol-Paul nibbles on a fresh slice of Philippine mango. “Oh, I love these,” she comments enthusiastically. In her first trip back to Asia since 2019, the French CEO and creative director of Swiss luxury jewellery and watches manufacturer Charriol expresses her delight in what is a homecoming of sorts.
Read more: Christmas 2022: 5 Jewellery Gift Ideas That'll Make Their Eyes Sparkling With Joy
“I used to live in Hong Kong and come for holidays in the Philippines,” she reveals. “The [country] has been a part of my life since I was a little girl.” But it’s not just the fantastic beaches or the tropical sunshine that Charriol- Paul is so fond of—it’s also the friendship she shares with some of our very own.
1 / 1
Sitting next to her is luxury tastemaker and Rustan Commercial Corporation and Stores Specialists, Inc chairwoman and CEO Zenaida “Nedy” Tantoco. The two women share a bond that has been generations in the making. “Do you know how my mum met your dad?” Tantoco asks Charriol-Paul. “It was while he was still in Cartier.” Philippe Charriol, who founded his eponymous jewellery brand, had worked as the executive director of Cartier Asia before founding his own company in the Eighties. After his passing in 2019, his daughter, Coralie, took over the reins.
“[Ours] is a multi-generational business relationship that has become a friendship,” Charriol-Paul explains. “When [my father] first started the brand, he found a few [people] who believed in his product, and one of them was [Tantoco’s] mother.”
1 / 1
A fitting match for longstanding friendship, both families have moulded the face of luxury in their respective markets. Charriol, known for its trademark Celtic design and cable accessories, has done wonders to create contemporary pieces that pay tribute to authentic Swiss craftsmanship. “Our watches are more Swiss-made than most,” Charriol-Paul reveals. “The head of the watch usually must be 60 per cent Swiss-made [before it can be considered a Swiss timepiece, but] the bracelet can come from anywhere. So [our timepieces] are 60 per cent Swiss-made, plus [our] bracelet, which is 100 per cent Swiss-made. [Other timepieces] can have a very complicated movement that is a hundred per cent Swiss- made, but the rest of the watch is made in China.”
Being a designer herself, it isn’t surprising that Charriol-Paul is familiar with the artistry of watchmaking. Proudly wearing her family’s jewellery and a twist watch on her wrist, the Geneva-based C-suite shows off a few fabulous designs. She discloses how one of Charriol’s bangles has been named after Filipina actress Iza Calzado. “She’s a very well-rounded woman,” Charriol-Paul says of Calzado. “She’s gorgeous, also very friendly. She takes care of her well-being. And that’s what I want the Charriol woman to be. That’s what I think we all want to be.”
See also: Iza Calzado And Ben Wintle Open Up About Their Transformative Journey
Charriol-Paul also shares the inspiration behind the brand’s sunny St Tropez collection. A familiar locale for the Charriol family, St Tropez is located nearby Philippe Charriol’s birthplace of Marseilles. The namesake collection, which translates the warmth and happiness of a French nautical seaside into women’s accessories, uses gold and marries it with Charriol’s emblematic Celtic style. A surfer herself, Charriol-Paul wears a newly designed necklace around her décolletage—one that’s sure to be the pièce de résistance of the brand’s summer 2023 collection—and says that it embodies the joie de vivre of St Tropez. “This is my sacred piece,” she says of her rivière. “You have the C logo [on the necklace] and in fact, the city’s sunshine [is represented] by medallions on a very big chain. This emblem was also on the handbags of the first St Tropez collection that dad launched.” In many ways, the piece not only allows Charriol-Paul to “follow the sun all over the world”—but reminds her of some of her father’s best memories as well.
NOW READ
Philippines in the Hands of Mothers: Does The Country Need More Female Leaders?
Why is it Important to Celebrate Women? We Hear From 6 Filipinas
Credits
Images: Courtesy of Charriol
