French fashion powerhouse Christian Dior has looked to the sea to inspire its latest fine jewellery collection, Rose des Vents.
Designed by Dior Joaillerie creative director, Victoire de Castellane, the romantic range harks back to Dior’s childhood at Les Rhumbs, a villa in the seaside town of Granville. Les Rhumbs is the name given to the 32 divisions of the wind rose and, in this collection, de Castellane has used its symbology to bring together Dior’s three main influences: roses, travel and lucky pendants.
The simple nine-piece range comprises of a series of rose and yellow gold bracelets and necklaces with adjustable lengths. Each piece is adorned with a double-sided medallion featuring a wind rose on one side and a plain stone, such as lapis lazuli or mother-of-pearl, on the other. Created in complementary shades of blue, turquoise and pink, these delicate pieces can be worn subtly on their own or stacked and layered for a more statement look.
“I wanted to start from the idea of a little motif pendant. And what is more metaphorical than a medallion?” says de Castellane of the collection. “A symbol of travel, in it you find echoes of Christian Dior’s star and the idea of the good-luck charm, but also the rose, his favourite flower. The whole history of the house is there, implicitly.”
Highly superstitious by nature, it was the finding of a mysterious star symbol on the ground in Paris that convinced Christian Dior to open his couture house. De Castellane’s evolution of this symbol into the wind rose delves into the house’s history to create a timeless collection that is both a tribute to the designer and a lucky charm for its wearer.
The Rose des Vents collection is available in Europe now and worldwide from 10 June, prices from £1,050. Visit dior.com.