Big gemstones conquer the 79th Cannes Film Festival

The seventy-ninth edition of the Cannes Film Festival has consecrated the absolute primacy of gemstones as the narrative fulcrum of contemporary jewelry. Upon the red carpet, the chromatic intensity of the precious stones and the purity of the diamonds became the manifesto of a maximalist glamour. This aesthetic hallmark mirrors the current economic climate: with gold and silver market prices soaring to unprecedented heights, designers have shifted the centerpiece of value and creative design directly onto gemstones. Monumental necklaces, earrings, and bracelets have thus been transformed into the interpreters of a scenic presence fully aware of its own historical and anthropological worth. Dominating the scene, as custom dictates, were the most famous maisons – Chopard, Chaumet, Messika, Bulgari, and Boucheron – flanked, however, by brands that uphold the banner of a craftsmanship as artisanal as it is inventive. One need only look to Leo Pizzo, the Italian excellence that illuminated the style of supermodel Irina Shayk with a parure from the Sinfonia collection, featuring baguette- and brilliant-cut natural diamonds and a superb aquamarine pendant. Conversely, Pomellato's vivid and polychrome Gemme Superlative High Jewelry necklace, forged in rose gold, vividly hued precious stones, and brown diamonds, infused a vibrant vitality into the figure of Hande Erçel, while Akillis's magnetic creation, the Python necklace in diamonds and big opals, rendered the look of Raya Martigny even more incisive.

Antonella Reina, Editor VO+