Cover One of de Castellane’s latest collections—the most awe-inspiring and technically trailblazing to date—is the Dior Print high jewellery collection (Photo: Courtesy of Dior)
One of de Castellane’s latest collections—the most awe-inspiring and technically trailblazing to date—is the Dior Print high jewellery collection (Photo: Courtesy of Dior)
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A whimsical high jewellery collection that swirls with the intricacy of haute couture
Victoire de Castellane, the prolific artistic director behind Dior Joaillerie, is a master of creating covetable jewellery creations that harness new kinds of jewellery-making knowhow, pay tribute to the exacting standards and heritage of Dior, and celebrate a boundless creative freedom.
It’s a talent de Castellane has been finessing since she was five years old, when she took apart a charm bracelet to make a pair of earrings. At 12, in a secret experiment hidden from her mother, she melted down gold medallions to create her first ring. Growing up, she was influenced by her grandmother, the Countess of Castilleja de Guzman, whom de Castellane watched switch jewellery several times a day with her changing outfits. De Castellane grew up hearing stories of her great-great uncle, the famous dandy Boni de Castellane who was never seen without his pocket watch, cufflinks and signet ring. Since she joined Dior in 1999, de Castellane has become renowned for both her deep passion for and understanding of the world’s finest precious-stone jewellery, as well as her desire to rebel and revolutionise traditional codes of the industry’s craft.
"The work is all the more precise due to the settings’ curved surfaces, which distort prints and lines”
One of de Castellane’s latest collections—the most awe-inspiring and technically trailblazing to date—is the Dior Print high jewellery collection. Inspired by a desire to “draw prints on jewellery”, the range features the motifs of two-dimensional fabrics transposed onto three-dimensional jewellery. A combination of checks, stripes and geometric motifs are fused in a shimmering tribute to the fabrics of the house’s haute couture creations.
As well as drawing reference from the house of Dior designs, the range cleverly builds upon de Castellane’s past work—weaving storylines from throughout the history of all Dior high jewellery ranges. Intricate prints draw upon the delicately knitted inspiration of the 2018 collection Dior Dior Dior, textile dyeing techniques in Tie & Dior in 2020, and braids in the January 2022 collection Galons Dior.
What makes the collection so special is the realism of its prints, which appear to ripple like silk with every movement a wearer makes. To achieve jewellery that looks like printed fabric, the jewellers had to focus on perspective and relief, adjusting both the types of setting and the density of stones and gemstone placement to ensure the movement and contour is reflective of a piece of cloth. “When ribbons undulate, the print must follow,” de Castellane explained. “As with couture, it’s a process that requires a series of adjustments. The work is all the more precise due to the settings’ curved surfaces, which distort prints and lines.”
Dior Print Necklace in white gold, sapphires and diamonds (Photo: Courtesy of Dior)
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It’s hard to pick a single highlight out of the 137-piece collection that spans earrings, brooches, cuffs and more, but there is one necklace, which swirls with an interlacing loop of multi-coloured ribbons, that makes a deserving bid for the hero piece. It fuses white, pink and yellow gold with Paraiba-type tourmalines, tsavorite garnets, spessartites, rhodolite, red spinels, emeralds, rubies, blue, yellow and pink sapphires and diamonds. To create its articulated links, the masters at the Parisian high jewellery workshops borrowed a technique from watchmaking. The result is a multi-coloured showcase that is equal parts impressive technical knowhow and fantastical beauty.
Another mesmerising objet d’art is a necklace with an extraordinary Madagascar sapphire as its focal point, which sits on a ribbon of white gold, sapphires and diamonds that form a check motif. The result transforms what is typically a classically masculine print into an ode to femininity.
Other highlights in the Dior Print collection include a range that embraces abstract motifs to inject modernity and energy into classic high jewellery matching sets. In a concept de Castellane calls a “crazy tossing of stones”, a symphony of gems of different shapes and sizes come together in a harmonious tangle of ribbons.
The collection is an energetic, contemporary tribute to the highest standards of craftsmanship and creativity. Each piece deserves to be worn, cherished, admired and passed down through the generations; each piece serves as an enduring reminder of the mastery of de Castellane and Dior Joaillerie.
