Versailles, the incomparable royal chateau transformed by Louis XIV, has long provided inspiration for the house of Dior. The iconic designer who founded the maison, Christian Dior, drew on the palace’s sumptuousness and symbolic importance from his very first collection. Versailles was also the starting point for Dior’s latest high-jewelry line, Dior à Versailles, by Victoire de Castellane, the creative director of Dior Joaillerie. But rather than focus on the palace’s famed perspectives and architectural alignments, she let its decorative arts serve as muse instead. A diamond drop necklace in the collection reminds you of a crystal tassel from a chandelier; or a bow suggests the detail work on the typically Rococo-style furniture found at Versailles. For the rings shown above the inspiration ranged from the opulence of the staterooms where walls and ceilings might be upholstered with gold and silver brocade, or the baroque aesthetic of the Salon de Venus, to the Acanthus leaf motif found throughout the paneling and gilt work. Whatever the particular source for ideas, Dior à Versailles is all-out glamour. “I tried to imagine Versailles by night, with its interior illuminated by candlelight that made gemstones sparkle,” de Castellane explains. And in this collection the gems most certainly sparkle—both day and night.
