Forget your previous perceptions, donning a tiara, regardless of your regal stature, has become both an appealing fashion trend, and a respected power move by women holding seats at boardroom tables.
In Chaumet’s Place Vendôme, Paris, headquarters, their hôtel particulier at No.12 is an array of salons dedicated to the company’s heritage, culture, and high jewellery workshops. Home to Chaumet since 1907, (they had been at the storied square since 1812, however), the building is a jewellery aficionado’s dream, with the boutique at street level, the high jewellery atelier high above, and a fascinating series of rooms between.
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But if there’s one space that has my heart, it’s the Salon des Diadèmes that is almost entirely decorated with tiara maillechorts, the base-metal versions of actual designs that were used to adjust the real thing perfectly to the client’s head. From delicate, trembling aigrettes that perch high above the head to foliate-heavy tiaras that were fit for a queen, the array of designs is breathtaking – yet only a tiny sample of the over 2000 tiaras the maison has made for royalty and aristocracy since its beginnings in 1780.
It was Napoleon, to who Chaumet was official court jeweller, who was responsible for the revival of the tiara after the French Revolution, by which time few noble heads were seen without sporting the bejewelled headpiece. Looking to the ancient Romans and their belief that crowns or garlands were the headdresses of kings, he had Chaumet create them for his Empress Josephine, who has played muse to the house ever since.
“It was Napoleon, to who Chaumet was official court jeweller, who was responsible for the revival of the tiara after the French Revolution.”
Today, tiaras are as much a part of Chaumet’s offering as more traditional jewellery fare. There they are on their website, ‘price on demand’, available to order by phone or email, or to purchase in store. They range from simple head-band like pieces, a sweet intertwined double-row of diamond-set white gold with a solitaire diamond accent peeking above, to an unfathomably complicated Torsade de Chaumet tiara from a recent high jewellery collection, with undulating coils of diamond set metal seemingly floating in the air. These are just the tiaras available to purchase ‘off-the-shelf’, and not the made-to-order ones that are the reserve of the more deep-pocketed.
A bespoke tiara, often ordered for weddings, (although there are reports of one CEO who wanted one to wear to board meetings — a very luxurious, very feminine variation of ‘wearing the pants’) is not just whipped up on demand. The entire experience can take months, if not years, starting with initial discussions and designs, tweaks and fittings, and ending in the handing over of a totally bespoke, expertly fitted headpiece that will often be transformable for added wearability —perhaps the tiara will unscrew from its base to be worn as a necklace, or one element of it can be removed and added to a chain as a pendant.
A Chaumet tiara — whether entirely bespoke or bought on a whim — may be out of reach for the vast majority of us, but one can still dream.
Chaumet is available locally at hartfield.co.nz
