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After researching, designs were sketched out ...
and colours were determined ...
Coloured gemstones are concurrently being sourced to match the colour scheme planned.
Built around gemstones of exceptional quality, of all shapes and sizes, the pieces of the Animal Planet collection also feature more unexpected stones and materials, such as quartz, kunzites, pearls, Paraiba tourmalines, moonstones, red gold, titanium, and precious woods, for a “natural” effect of startling realism.
Once the materials had been chosen, each piece had to be made with patience, precision and attention to detail in order to harmoniously combine the stones, metals and colours that would appear not merely as a simple piece of jewellery but as a true miniature fresco.
To achieve this goal, the jewellers pushed the limits of their skill by mixing ancestral techniques such as lacquering, pearl weaving, and stone carving with modern developments such as 3-D modelling and titanium casting. Each animal to be made represented a new challenge for the goldsmiths, rhodium-platers, chain-makers and other jewel setters. Thanks to their exceptional command of the jewellery arts, Chopard’s craftsmen made the most of the shapes, colours and materials to successfully bring the animals to life by giving them expressions and emotions and placing them in their natural settings: for example, the koala hugs a tree branch, and the polar bear is stretched out on a very realistic block of ice.
A sketch of the Polar Bear hugging a tree...
A finished piece of the cute Polar Bear Ring on Ice...
Another jewel of aestheticism and technical skill is the necklace depicting monkeys stealing fruits. In this mischievous scene, two rubellite chimpanzees are stretching out on vines of red gold to reach a bunch of mangoes represented by a cluster of orange-red sapphires. The animals’ astoundingly realistic poses were skilfully reproduced by a sculptor. The monkeys’ fur is magnificently re-created by very close jewelling of brown and cognac diamonds –a task very deftly performed by the company’s master stone setter.
Initial draft ...
Final Sketch
Another variation of the Monkey necklace
Securing the casts in wax...
Setting the gemstones ...
The necklace was also being worked together, while the gemstones were set
onto the Monkeys.
Pictures of the finished necklace ...
The Frog with Crown ring is both an amusing nod to fairy tales and a very detailed figure. Mounted on a ring of white gold, a frog of emeralds and black diamonds seems ready to jump out and offer up its tiny crown of yellow gold set with brilliants, amongst which is a yellow diamond. Exceptional work by the designers and jewellers has given the little animal’s large liquid eyes a touching expression of melancholy.
A frog is also featured on a delightful necklace of clever design. The animal, made in red gold set with pink diamonds, is watching over its eggs, a cloud of small aquamarine cabochons. The design of the water lilies that surround it required the use of skilled and unorthodox jewellery techniques, such as the application of lacquer in the bottom of the bowls representing the aquatic plants. Drops of diamond and sapphire “water” placed here and there add life to the scene.
Sketch of the Frog & Crown Ring ...
Sketch of the Frog Necklace
Before joining the crown to the frog...
The final product ...
The real frog on the live-scale sketch...
The ornaments and stones were placed on a mockup to ensure perfect position when
being worn...
The Turtle ring was designed around its central stone, a magnificent 11.43-carat pear-cut brown diamond. The brilliantly sparkling shell is set with 370 tiny champagne, cognac and dark chestnut-brown diamonds. The subtly mixed shades perfectly reproduce this calm turtle’s scales.
The Turtle Ring
With wake antennae and legs stretched out, the bee brooch appears ready to gather pollen from a beautiful flower. The body of this tiny animal is a miniscule mosaic of yellow and black diamonds of varying sizes. The extreme fragility of its translucid winds is simulated by a loose and irregular meshing of white gold, enhanced by brilliant-cut diamonds. A homage to the queen of the insects which reveals once again an assured taste for attention to detail.
The Bee
With just as much work, the rabbit bracelet brings once again a fresh and humorous feature to the collection. This white gold cuff, set with diamonds, shows these adorable rodents searching for carrots. To make the piece lighter, the belly and ears of these mammals are hollow and allow one to feel the smoothness of the skin and the fragility of the chest. The vegetables have been skilfully represented by pear shaped orange sapphires, oval shaped tourmalines and green marquise tourmalines.
The Rabbit Bracelet
The seahorse earrings represent a gracious little cavalier of the sea with onyx eyes and a body adorned with brilliant-cut diamonds. The unusual fish appears to ride in a shower of micro-bubbles of air, represented by 108 rose-cut diamonds. A piece truly delicate and poetic.
The Seahorse Earrings
Another virtuoso creation is the Sardines bracelet in diamonds and sapphires, which took nearly 200 hours of labour and thousands of micro-welds; each fish had to be handled individually. To create the **** of a school of fish being carried along by the current, every single sardine had to be placed with incredible accuracy.
Sketch of a school of Sardines...
Each fish motif is painstakingly finished ...
Then set onto the bracelet on the mandrel before micro-welded...
Setting the blue sapphire signifying the blue ocean...
A finished piece of the Sardines Bracelet
Leaving the depths of the ocean to join the ice-floe one can discover a piece that defines once more the sensitivity and extreme dexterity of the designer.
What could be more endearing than this polar bear whose body holds a white gold ring? Laying calmly, it has no fear of the cold with its fur of sparkling diamonds. An onyx marks its nose while 2 small sapphires of 0,1 carats evoke pleading eyes.
After the fairy tale of Prince Charming turned into a frog, Chopard revisits that of birth with the Storks earrings. In this composition, which appears as though it has come straight out of a children’s picture book, the male stork, of white gold set with black and white diamonds, carries in its beak a bundle made of blue topaz, in which a baby boy is sleeping. The female, just as finely cut, delivers a baby girl. This time, the infant’s wrap is represented by a pink briolette-cut kunzite. As a mark of the extremely fine quality of the jewellery, the backs of the earrings bear a fine gold honeycomb weave.
A sketch of the Stork Earring ...
Though the latest technology was used to create this dazzling collection, as always it was the unrivalled skill of the craftsmen that gave the models form and beauty. At Chopard, the deeply moving splendour of Nature and the creative genius of Man have united to give birth to something exceptional and mark a new marvel of Haute Joaillerie. Happy Birthday Chopard !
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发表于 2010-7-6 12:10
