A King for your Queen

The Dior new jewellery collection is not something that one would normally associate with an upmarket label. Designed by Victoire de Castellane, official designer for Dior since 1998, this provocative collection consists of four mementos mori fashioned from jade, obsidian, opal and quartz. The crystal skulls are accessorised with white gold and diamonds.

The memento mori has a long and honourable artistic history, from the anamorphic skull in Hans Holbein’s 1533 The Ambassadors through to Damien Hirst’s 2007 über-bling piece, For the Love of God. As a choice for jewellery design it is inspired: few other media can better represent the vanity of life in the face of inevitable death and decomposition. These quirky pieces provide a reminder that even the most exalted will eventually fall. The concept of a jewel inside a jewel is particularly inspired as the skulls, shaped from gemstones, have been clad in diamond crowns, tiaras and necklaces.

These unusual miniature works of art are envisaged as pairs: the king is a brooch, the queen a ring, in matching or contrasting colours.

Madame de Castellane states that, “Jewels are beautiful as long as they catch the eye,” and this collection certainly achieves this aim. Whether aficionados of fine jewellery are inspired or repulsed, Dior will certainly provide the talking point of the season.

New post on at Tuesday, 13 October, 2009, 6:56 am and is archived in Fashion, Lifestyle, Luxury. Subscribe to answers with RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.