Architecture inspires new line of Dior jewelry

Launched in 2014, the "Archi Dior" collection of luxury jewelry is expanding with pieces whose design is based on the principles of architecture and with jewels cut to resemble past Dior couture designs. These new creations will be presented in the fall.

Architecture is dear to Dior and has regularly influenced the cuts, volume and decorations of its collections' designs. It is to this relationship and this vision of couture that Victoire de Castellane, artistic director of jewelry for Dior, wanted to pay tribute last year with the "Archi Dior" collection.

For fall 2015, the collection will be expanded to include a new series of pieces: bracelets, rings, earrings and necklaces that all borrow the name of and directly reference a line or iconic dress from the French luxury brand's past.

When dresses become jewels

In the skilled hands of Victoire de Castellane, Dior's most iconic designs can morph into veritable pieces of luxury jewelry, thus uniting couture, jewelry and architecture in one single design, all of which are offered in pink or white gold with diamonds.

"I wanted to create each piece like the dresses that Christian Dior created as an architect, as if the jewels were sculpted fabrics, airy, pleated, belted, draped," says the French designer.

The most evocative design in this collection is the "Bar en Corolle" ring, obviously referencing the Bar Suit from 1947 and the first New Look collection, "Corolle," which symbolized the femme-fleur. In jewelry form, this translates into a line of diamonds that seems to belt around its metal folds (gold version) and its gem spirals (all diamond version).

The "Cocotte" dress, from Dior's spring/summer 1948 collection, has been transformed into an asymmetrical necklace, bracelet and ring, while the "Diorama" dress, presented for the first time for spring/summer 1951, is brought back to life in designs that seem to wrap around themselves.

The "Archi Dior" line is completed by the "Ailée" bracelet, inspired by the eponymous fall/winter 1948 line, and by the "Libre Plumetis" bracelet, which recalls the tulle "Belgique" dress of 1957.

The collection will be available for purchase in September, and prices are available upon request.