If there are any life lessons you need to take away from this new set of high jewellery by Chaumet, it is that living your best life is also about navigating through those twists and turns. More than just mesmerising motivational spiel on metal, Torsade de Chaumet is also a study on architecture, a remix of its signatures, and the depth of creativity rendered from a single line.

There’s something special brewing at the house of Chaumet, which means a lot considering that the storied Parisian jeweller just surpassed its 240th year in the biz. Though we can’t put a finger on its surprise just yet, the timing of its new creative director Ehssan Moazen – he joined the house last March after five years at Tiffany & Co. – is certainly no coincidence of the edge that Chaumet has added into its tool kit. The new high jewellery collection presented in the summer, titled Torsade de Chaumet, is perhaps the first indicator that it is letting loose with visuals that appear like the signature ribbons and bows of Chaumet are unravelling.

^{Torsade de Chaumet bracelet and ring in white gold with sapphiresand  diamonds}

Read into it what you will because the jeweller isn’t letting a change of guards or even the pandemic put a damper on its consistency honed since the day Napoléon Bonaparte and Empress Joséphine were loyal clients. This collection marks a couple of milestones for Chaumet too, namely the reopening of Place Vendôme hôtel particulier last year after a serious restoration job and an acknowledgment of the bicentenary of Napoléon’s death, its most noted VIP.

^{Torsade de Chaumet sautoir in white gold with rubies and diamonds}

What you will learn about these twirls that are central to the collection’s design is that there is no singular meaning that has been set in stone. Chaumet has expressed that one such design inspiration is the sweep of the frieze wrapping the Vendôme Column, a storied landmark that its maker is able to admire daily from the windows of its swanky salon. Then, another hint is that the spirals are representative of how life goes on as well as its visual poetry on the ups and downs of love. But don’t let its uncertainty on what the true definition is put you off on what is certainly still top drawer craftsmanship and creativity. Chaumet continues to hit the ground running here, showing that beautiful designs often writes its own stories.

^{Torsade de Chaumetž earrings in white gold with diamonds and Torsade de Chaumetž ring in white gold with an emerald and diamonds}

Although established on white gold, these twirls evoke an illusion of softness and movement like a paper streamer. There’s also a flirtatious quality to these curls that makes you want to coil your index finger around it. To show that Chaumet isn’t just making repeated patterns without much thought, it has crafted a white gold tiara that composes of twirls that appear tangled, an organised chaos if you will (a description that Chaumet probably doesn’t hear too often about its wares).

^{Torsade de Chaumet earrings and necklace in white gold with diamonds}

For certain selection of earrings, rings, and necklaces, the spirals have also been fashioned in a tighter coil, a symbolism that might allude to stored energy often found in a spring. A few designs even flaunt swirls that give the illusion that it is curling around the jewellery in a slow, vine-like manner. Meanwhile, Torsade de Chaumet isn’t short on coloured stones either. Chaumet introduces its house colour of blue via Ceylon sapphires appearing on rings and bracelets with the swirls forming a protective barrier around them. Similarly, vivid red Mozambique rubies enter the equation on a negligee necklace and as well as rings to add a dash of pop into the package. After this, you just might never look at the twirl the same way again.

www.chaumet.com