Until Gabrielle Coco Chanel arrived on the fashion scene in the late 1920s, only the wealthy could afford jewellery as it was made nearly exclusively with precious stones and fine metals, and even then the high cost of jewellery meant women could only wear one to two pieces. Applying her finesse of encrusting bijouterie with poured glass beads, enamels, and flowers, Chanel revolutionised the established traditions during the Great Depression of how jewellery should look like when costume pieces turned into a perennial favourite for couture clientele.
The designer was notorious for layering on ropes of faux-pearls and necklaces that contrasted with flamboyance against her minimalist design. She did not masquerade the interpretation of her passion; she had declared her adoration for pâte de verre pendants, “I only like fake jewellery.” While jewel-toned “stones” handcrafted out of molten glass is not a technique found in mass-produced jewellery, each piece echoes the prowess of the goldsmith.
Perhaps the question is not about whether the pieces appear lowbrow, but rather, can one pull off faux diamonds tastefully?
As with her style, which was of its time at the height of the Art Deco era without being particularly beholden to that era's geometric and machined design, Chanel's earliest costume jewellery could be lyrical and fanciful—how else to describe brooches in the shape of green tree frogs? Their lead bodies coloured with enamel, their webbed feet packed with paste, or airy pins supporting sprays of pâte de verre flowers.
In the mid-century era (1950s-60s), Chanel was seldom seen without a signature brooch, sometimes placed on her belt, tweed jacket, or even on an elegant chapeau. While some of the vintage pins from the era were made of poured glass, others simply used coloured glass stones that were cut and polished to fit their gilt-metal settings. As for the overall shapes of these pins, they ranged from abstract to floral, although one of Chanel's most famous motifs was the familiar Maltese Cross. Chanel costume jewellery reflected the designer's enthusiasm for ancient art styles, and of collections that are given to her by lovers including the Russian Grand Duke Dmitri and the Duke of Westminster.
Some of the most complex examples of inscribed jewellery entwine amatory relationships. They passed through the jewellers’ hands, to which they encounter and adorn the wrists or the neck of a lover. Each piece tells a story of its own; they served as the inspiration for Chanel’s fakes: ropes of imitation pearls and, later, Byzantine-style jewellery by the atelier of Augustine Gripoix in the 1930s, which required colourful bold glass stones in a variety of shapes, colours, and sizes. Chanel used 16th-century and Renaissance paintings for inspiration and Gripoix was asked to produce pieces from designs made by Chanel in a fruitful collaboration.
In 1954, Chanel began to collaborate with goldsmith Robert Goossens, lovingly referred to as her “barbarian Byzantine”. Goossens's metalwork introduced crosses, lions, and wheat, and they were among the opulent ornamental lexicon of Baroque and Byzantine-inspired pieces from the duo. The collaborations between Goossens and Chanel continue to the present day, with Goossens ateliers joining Chanel’s Métiers d’art in 2005. Chanel herself wore the jewellery as she wanted her clients to; jangling together precious gemstones with costume glass, reality with fantasies.
In January 1983, when Karl Lagerfeld presented his first haute couture collection under the Chanel label, he paid homage to this style with a postmodern twist: Lagerfeld turned to the house of Lesage to create embroideries of Chanel jewellery on a long black dress: fake jewels, made fake again. It proved emblematic of the humour and panache with which Lagerfeld would ceaselessly reinvent Chanel’s style for 36 years. Using inexpensive and more accessible materials enables Chanel to create bold statement pieces or soft whimsical designs without an outrageous price tag while suiting all tastes and budgets. To this day, its creation remains an essential element of Chanel’s allure.
Recently, the letter ‘C’ has been added to the right and stands for ‘croisière’ (i.e. the cruise collection). Markings on bracelets, necklaces, and brooches are now performed in the lock rather than on an oval plate. Today, we see Virginie Viard, Chanel's artistic director and the first woman at the helm since Gabrielle Chanel herself, carries on the legacy with codes and symbols that were so dear to its founder including double Cs, camellias, ribbons, pearls, and chains interlaced with leather.
And the ultimate accessory for the girl gangs that populated Chanel’s Autumn/Winter '20 runway? Piles of pearls, crucifixes, and costume jewellery. Models including Gigi Hadid, Vittoria Ceretti, and Rianne Van Rompaey stalked the runway and twos and threes on the final day of Paris Fashion Week, their easy chic ensembles amped up with Chanel logo bracelets and necklaces, embellished crosses that dangled between lapels, and myriad gold chains and strings of pearls layered over bodices.
The Chanel costume jewellery examines undiscovered opportunities and new ways of wearing with each season, complementing the silhouette while echoing the words of Gabrielle Chanel: A piece of jewellery should cause astonishment at most, not envy. It should remain an ornament and amusement.
Pictures via Chanel
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