The camellia, related to the tea plant, originated in Asia. Being almost a perfect circle in shape, without thorns and retaining its leaves throughout a season, it came to represent purity and longevity. In the 1920’s the love of Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel’s life, Arthur Boy Capel, introduced the bloom to her and she adopted it as her signature flower, using it in the form of silk lapel pins and hair adornments. Fashionable men of the previous century preferred the camellia for a boutonniere because of its absence of scent. Likewise, Chanel liked it for the same reason: it did not compete with her perfume, Chanel #5. Although camillias come in various colors both solid and variegated, Chanel chose the pure white camillia as a recurrent theme. It was a motif repeated in coromandel screens, mirrors, lamps and a rock crystal bouquet in her Paris apartment.
Chanel’s new high jewelry collection, Jardin de Camelias, has nearly 100 variations on the theme, including earrings, brooches, necklaces, bracelets, and rings, all encrusted with sapphires, mandarin garnets, rubellites, tourmalines, and black, white and yellow diamonds. Many pieces are set in black lacquer recalling her black coromandel screens of long ago.
Now, take a deep breath and just cast your eyes on these beauties.
And my favorite-as seen in Harper’s Bazaar- The Camellia Carolle Pink Tourmaline and diamond ring.
The ring reminds me of our own camellia from our Botanical Collection.
Of course, Coco would prefer it in white.
– Lorre Lei
Leave a Reply