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orbiting hoops and softly undulating hooks to pierce the lobe, bracelets to wind around the wrist and thumb, and multiple rings bound together in a trio to jingle playfully on the hand. Her work was immediately picked up by the likes of Matchesfashion.com, London’s Dover Street Market and Boutique 1, and swiftly became beloved of fashion editors worldwide. And just one year in, Chesnais is making her first foray into fine jewellery, something that has come about organically. “My original collections just came in silver and vermeil,” she says. “And
then a Russian store wanted pieces in 18-carat gold. They said their customer wouldn’t wear vermeil. That was the first step towards fine, so then I thought I would do a little capsule of fine pieces with gemstones.” For her fine jewellery Chesnais takes designs from her original collections and sprinkles them with stones in a trio of shades; all-white diamonds, varying shades of pink sapphires with amethysts, and dark and pale blue sapphires with pale topaz. “When I first looked at using stones, the options seemed endless,” she 42
‘People keep asking me why I’m not designing super-delicate pieces, but so many other people are, so why would I? Previous page: Charlotte Chesnais. These pages, from left: Saturn Medium gold and diamond earrings; Swing gold, white gold and diamond earring; Swing gold, amethyst and topaz earring