Most of us know that the annual Cannes Film Festival is the world’s premiere film fiesta. Yet Cannes is an equally prestigious showcase for high luxury jewelry that influences the global jewelry industry, style reporters and of course, consumers. With distinguished actresses and gorgeous supermodels draped in the latest high jewelry from leading international luxe brands, Cannes creates major jewelry news every May for twelve days.
While this year’s Cannes seethed with the scandal of security guards barring women wearing flat shoes from red carpet access, some great jewelry got lost in the media shuffle. To set the record straight, here’s an overview of the best high luxury jewelry designs worn at Cannes 2015.
How best to showcase superb haute joaillerie? Hire a supermodel to wear it on the Cannes Red Carpet. Founder/Creative Director Fawaz Gruosi of deGrisogono and his team wisely enlisted U.S. cover girl Karlie Kloss to wear these diamond Gypsy Earrings.
Photo by Rex Features
Besides being an accomplished actress, Emily Blunt is a British beauty who wears high jewelry with radiant enjoyment. While I admire all the jewels Ms. Blunt wore at Cannes this year, these emerald earrings by Anna Hu Haute Joaillerie deserve special mention. The shape and light of the glorious green stones complement Blunt’s bone structure and illuminate her face with maximum glamour.
Photo by Rex Features
Polish supermodel Anja Rubik wears Chopard Red Carpet Collection chandelier earrings at the Cannes premiere of Youth. Blazing with 40 carats of diamonds, these illuminate the night with white light. Famous for pioneering the use of sustainably mined gold and ethically mined diamonds in their high jewelry, Chopard perennially excels at creating design-driven and gemologically important haute luxe jewels.
Photo by Rex Features
English actress Rachel Weisz casts a spell in white gold earrings with diamonds, blue sapphires and aquamarines from the Chaumet Lumières d’Eau High Jewelry collection. (In keeping with Maison Chaumet’s nature-based traditions, the 53-piece Lumières d’Eau collection is inspired by graceful streams, rain-drenched skies; sun-lit lakes, asymmetric stalactites, waterfalls and the icy grandeur of glaciers.)
Photo by Rex Features
What better way to dramatize diamonds than by pairing them with a dark beauty like Sara Sampaio? The Portuguese model’s tawny skin tone presents a perfect palette for Avakian diamond chandelier earrings.
Photo by Rex Features
High spirited English supermodel Cara Delevigne + de Grisogono haute joaillerie = the highest expression of high jewelry. A four-stranded deGrisogono necklace of diamonds, emeralds and rubies graces Delevingne with mega-watt brilliance.
Photo by de Grisogono