Learn How Feathers Inspired The Plume De Chanel High Jewellery Collection
The 15-piece Plume de Chanel high jewellery collection, inspired by the airiness of feathers, is so cleverly crafted it's hard to get out of our minds.
The house of Chanel has had a fondness for feathers that goes way back. For one, the first creation Gabrielle Chanel presented to the press in 1910 was a hat adorned with a single plume. In 1932, she put the feather motif in the spotlight again, this time modelling an oversized brooch after it as part of her first high jewellery collection Bijoux de Diamants.
The Plume Singuliere de Chanel necklace can be worn as a sautoir or Y-shaped, and features a detachable feather motif that doubles up as a brooch.
Entirely set with diamonds, this iconic piece was designed to be fully articulated to recreate the suppleness of feathers, and could in turn be worn in multiple ways: on the neck, around the fingers and even in the hair. Revealed in 2024, the Plume de Chanel high jewellery collection designed by Patrice Leguereau – director of Chanel’s Fine Jewelry Creation Studio – pays tribute to it in both style and craftsmanship.
To appear ultra-light (or in the brand’s own words, “airy”), the feather motif on every one of the 15 pieces undulates and is wide at the bottom and tapered at the top. Several designs are also transformable and can be worn as one wishes, such as the Plume Singuliere de Chanel necklace which can be worn as a sautoir or Y-shaped, and features a detachable feather motif that doubles up as a brooch.
This earring is part of an asymmetrical pair, but still turns heads as a mono earring.
Bringing femininity to Chanel’s 2024 Plume de Chanel high jewellery collection are gemstones in various shades of pink. Carefully selected and positioned alongside white diamonds, they also lend depth, in turn further enhancing how each feather motif appears to be floating on the skin.
One of the key pieces, for example, is the Plume Couture de Chanel necklace, which features a central, lace-like row of diamonds, pastel pink sapphires and a 5.04-carat cushion-cut deep pink sapphire for a pendant.
Plume Couture de Chanel necklace
Two detachable rows of diamonds add grandeur and versatility. For greater and more natural-looking movement, the base of every feather motif in the range is fixed while spherical emmaillement – a technique in which individual elements are delicately linked or articulated to improve flexibility – is used to craft its tip.
The result: pieces that better follow the curves of the body such as the Plume de Chanel ring on this page – a toi et moi (French for “you and me”) style design in which the feather motif wraps around one finger while its band hugs another, accenting it with a 1.03-carat pear-shaped diamond.