This post was originally published on this site

PARIS — The high jewelry showcases held during couture week in January tend to be more low-key affairs than those in July: A wet and wintry Paris attracts fewer wealthy clients than in the summer months, when much of the 1 percent flocks to France from all over the world.

Still, some of the biggest houses could be relied upon to put some showstoppers on display. Here are a few highlights of the week:

Boucheron

What does one do in Paris when turning 160? To kick off a year of celebrations around this anniversary, Boucheron unveiled its latest couture collection as part of Vendôrama, an exhibition in a courtyard of the Monnaie de Paris that opened this month. Inside, visitors are guided around the retrospective via a smartphone app with an augmented reality rendering of Wladimir, the black cat owned by Gérard Boucheron, the house’s founder. There are interactive opportunities to learn about the craftsmanship required for high jewelry, or haute joaillerie; see historical documents like ledgers and early advertisements; and admire some famous creations from the Boucheron archive. The maison’s latest pieces are also on display. Textured gold necklaces and bracelets from the signature Serpent Bohème collection are followed by exquisite animal-inspired pieces: diamond vixen and wolf rings, finished in aquamarine or malachite, and glittering parrot brooches with feathers in stones of exotic hues. A secret watch, with a white and black diamond husky perched on a white-jade ice ledge and looking into a rock-crystal lake, was a highlight, as was a 1920s-style headband, the Lumière de Nacre, made from 574 round diamonds set in mother-of-pearl and white gold. The exhibition closes on Sunday in Paris, and will be traveling to Asia later this year.

Chanel

The king of the jungle was a favorite motif and a good-luck charm for Coco Chanel (a Leo who believed firmly in the power of star signs), so it is of little surprise that the lion was the major inspiration for the brand’s latest high jewelry collection. Every one of the 53 L’Esprit du Lion pieces incorporates a lion’s head in some way. Highlights included secret timepieces: One had its feline head carved into a 37.41-carat yellow beryl, while another had the face mounted on a white gold bracelet with 541 brilliant-cut diamonds. There was also a series of beautiful necklaces, like the Passionate — in the palette of the African savanna — with a lion in 18-karat gold running atop a detachable, giant 30-carat orange topaz with a waterfall of 82 pink sapphires; or the Legendary, with 1,200 diamonds, including a 30-carat yellow one, studding a lion’s head and mane; plus numerous dazzling cuffs, rings and chokers.

Dior

On Monday, models in the Dior couture show wore necklaces of temporary tattoos, spelling out romantic quotes in French such as, “The imaginary is what tends to become real” and “Love is always in front of you.” Later in the week, it emerged that such intimate exchanges were also the source of inspiration for Victoire de Castellane, creative director of Dior jewelry, who continued her fascination with the palace of Versailles in her latest collection, musing on its private corridors and secret boudoirs.

“I wanted chiaroscuro stones, faded pinks and purplish reds, iridescent moonstones and sky blues,” Ms. de Castellane said. “The colors themselves have a mysterious quality.”

Beguiling gold rings like the Cachette Rubellite or Cachette Opale Claire had dazzling centerpiece stones with little drawers underneath, while the Cachette Tiroir Diamant had a bejeweled panel that could be raised 45 degrees to reveal a secret mirror beneath. The skull was also a recurring trope, lurking beneath diamond pendants, or with crossbones atop bracelets or rings — a reminder of what can linger long after one has gone.