Dior

It has been nearly 25 years since the brilliant Victoire de Castellane arrived at the House of Dior as creative director for High Jewelry. After 14 years overseeing costume jewelry collections for Chanel, de Castellane was given free rein to apply her unique brand of playful extravagance to precious metals and gemstones. The designer has masterfully remained true to the identity of the house while exploring her own personal inspirations. 

Asymmetry is one of her hallmarks. Mismatched shapes, earrings with opposing colored stones and rings that look completely different from one side to the other. Unexpected and riotous combinations of multi-colored gems, mixing precious and semi-precious stones, are another characteristic of de Castellane’s work. She also incorporates a variety of lacquering techniques for an even more vibrant color palette, exhibiting extraordinary fearlessness in her choices.

Through the years, de Castellane has looked to the Palace of Versailles, the ultimate expression of French Baroque opulence, for inspiration. Given that Christian Dior showed his first haute couture collection at Versailles in 1947, these references coalesce elegantly with Dior’s brand. Beginning in 2016, various Dior High Jewelry collections have interpreted details and decorative elements of the palace including its gilded interiors, rose gardens, candlelit chandeliers and other architectural elements. 

Present examples include the ‘Bosquet du Théâtre d'Eau' earclips (lot 9). Named for the garden’s spectacular Water Theatre grove, they juxtapose Paraíba-type and blue tourmalines, sapphires and diamonds. These three-dimensional cascades dazzle from every angle. The Diamond 'Galerie des Glaces' pendant-earclips (lot 8) recall Versailles’s iconic Hall of Mirrors with their inventive arrangements of calibré-cut diamonds topped by Louis XVI-style floral and bow motifs. The effect is mesmerizing. And finally, the rose. Christian Dior used flowers of every imaginable variety in his designs, but none recurred as often as the rose. The necklace and bracelet here (lot 7) capture the spirit not only of Dior’s family home in Normandy, where his mother tended rose bushes, but also the more grand and extensive rose gardens of Versailles. For de Castellane, these flowers are a passion: “I like to imagine the rose from A to Z, and make it evolve.” In that evolution, she has firmly established her own identity, weaving it into the DNA that has made Dior one of the world’s leading fashion and luxury brands.