The best high jewellery collections from Paris Couture Week 2017

All attention may have been on the intricate catwalk shows – and the equally elegant front row attendees – at Paris Couture Week in July 2017 but, behind closed doors, the fine jewellery houses of the Place Vendôme and beyond were showcasing their latest fantastical creations to a select audience of VIP clientele. Created using the finest stones and most skilled craftsmen, these high jewellery collections represent the best of the best and are often years in the making with prices for unique pieces frequently running into the millions. Click through to see this season’s most stunning pieces…

Le Secret by Van Cleef & Arpels

As the name suggests, Van Cleef & Arpels' newest high jewellery collection was inspired by secrets in all their forms – between lovers, family, friends and those you keep just to yourself. Based on the tradition of jewellery as a personal talisman or lucky charm, Van Cleef & Arpels presented an array of transformable jewellery imbued with secret messages, hidden motifs and playful moving parts known only to the giver and the very lucky receiver.

Pictured: Oiseau sure la branche transformable necklace inspired by Hans Christian Andersen’s The Nightingale_. Created with onyx, cultured pearls, emeralds, Burmese ruby beads, pink and blue sapphires and white diamonds._

Chanel offered up a collection of nautical high jewels with its Flying Cloud collection inspired by – and named for – the boat on which Gabrielle Chanel met the Duke of Westminster, a man who would have a huge influence over the iconic designer’s life. As such, the collection intertwines the familiar codes of the house – the camellia, the symbolic number five and Coco’s signature pearls – with instantly recognisable marine emblems including Breton stripes, anchors, knots and the buttons and braids of a sailor’s uniform. Split into two chapters, one inspired by life at sea and the other by nautical clothing, Flying Cloud pairs white and yellow gold with lapis lazuli, white diamonds, sapphires and pearls for timeless treasures which are unmistakably Chanel.

Pictured: Flying Cloud cuff in 18k white gold with diamonds; Sailor Tattoo ring in 18k white gold with diamonds; Yachting Day brooch in 18k white gold with diamonds; Precious Float necklace in 18k white gold with diamonds, Japanese cultured pearls and lapis lazuli; Sapphire Stripes watch in 18k white gold with sapphires and diamonds

With Chaumet est une fête, the French fine jewellery house celebrates all things hedonistic and indulgent. — this collection is inspired by the greatest parties and celebratory events around the world. The collection is divided into four sub-divisions. Pastoral Anglaise takes its inspiration from Glyndebourne and British eccentricity, with a Scottish tartan motif picked out in emeralds, diamonds, rubies and sapphires, while Aria Passionata takes its cues from the velvet curtains and fiery passion of the performers at the Scala de Milan, via garnets, rubies and tourmalines.

Valses d’Hiver, on the other hand, celebrates the elegance and refinement of the debutants at Vienna’s Opera Ball, with pearls and white diamonds, while Rhapsodie Transatlantique heads across the ocean to immortalise the modernity and urban outlook of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York through diamonds, garnets tourmalines, sapphires Padparadsha, morganites, tanzanites and topaz.

Pictured: Aria Passionata necklace in pink gold with garnets, rubies and diamonds; Valses d’Hiver tiara in white gold with diamonds and cultured pearls, Pastorale Anglaise earrings in white and yellow gold with emeralds, sapphires, rubies and diamonds, Rhapsodie Transatlantique ring in white and yellow gold with sapphires garnets and diamonds

Boucheron looked to the extreme landscapes of the Far East for its 2017 high jewellery collection commemorating the opening of its Moscow boutique in 1897 – a launch that made it the first French jeweller with a permanent base in the city. Split into three main themes – Nature, Couture and Architecture – the collection utilises glittering diamonds, pearls, emeralds, black spinels and other precious stones to create a winter wonderland celebrating the frosty landscape of the North, the glamorous and beautiful empresses and queens who inhabit it and the signature cupolas and domes of the Russian skyline.

Pictured: Femmes Boréales Baïkal necklace in white gold with diamonds, aquamarines and pearls; Animaux des Neiges fox ring in white gold with diamonds, tourmaline and emeralds; Flocon Imperiale transformable necklace in white gold with diamonds and rock crystal

Inspired by the organic forms of the natural world, Moussaieff presented a range of high jewellery pieces demonstrating its superlative ability to source the finest stones, work with the greatest craftsmen and design the most exuberant and beautiful pieces. Most notable was the house's use of unusual stones not seen elsewhere during Couture Week – including arresting grey diamonds and a huge Paraiba tourmaline set in a necklace with a peacock feather-design inspired by Empress Eugenie, wife of Napoleon III.

Pictured: Natural Burma sapphire pendant with diamonds and emeralds; Natural blue, pink and white diamond earrings; Natural pearl and diamond suite