Chopard Loves Cannes: History of Palme D’Or
A Unique and Diamond-Set Palme D’Or to Celebrate the 70th Anniversary of the Film Festival.
The Palme d’Or is the enduring symbol of the Cannes International Film Festival. Veritable grail for every film producer on the planet, the Palme d’Or is awarded each year to the best film in the official selection.
As the Cannes Festival marked its 70th anniversary, Chopard was celebrating 20 years of partnership with the world’s most glamorous and biggest film event. To commemorate this double anniversary, the Swiss jeweller created an exceptional Palme d’Or. For the very first time, a cloud of diamonds adorned the precious leaf motif. This unique trophy created from ‘Fairmined’ materials.
List of the five last Palme d’Or Award winners:
- 2016: I, Daniel Blake – Ken Loach
- 2015: Dheepan – Jacques Audiard
- 2014: Winter Sleep – Nuri Blige Ceylan
- 2013: Blue is the warmest colour – Adbellatif Kechiche
- 2012: Amour – Michael Haneke
CRAFTSMANSHIP
Designed in Chopard’s Geneva jewellery ateliers in 1998, the precious palm is every inch a High Jewellery creation. The tip of its branch forms a tiny heart, a nod to one of the symbols of the Maison. As if swayed by a gentle breeze, its graceful leaves appear to be frozen in time for a brief moment. Made of 118 grams of “Fairmined” certified 18-carat ethical gold, the Palme rests on a rock crystal cushion shaped like an emerald-cut diamond. This ultimate detail renders the trophy truly unique since nature never yields two identical rock crystals. It takes the five artisans of the Geneva-based House no less than 40 hours of work to hand-craft the most coveted gem of the Festival.
ETHICAL PALME D’OR
First launched in May 2013 at the 66th Cannes Festival, The Journey to a Sustainable Luxury project was responsible for the creation of The Green Carpet Collection – same as the Red Carpet collection in previous years, but with ethical zing. The creation of a Palme in ‘Fairmined’ gold and ‘ethical’ diamonds bears testimony to Chopard’s commitment to ‘sustainable and responsible luxury’.
WHEN IT ALL BEGAN
It all began in 1997, when Pierre Viot, President of the Festival at the time, asked Caroline Scheufele, our Co-President and Artistic Director, to redesign the Palme d’Or. Since 1998, the prestigious trophy has been handcrafted in Geneva workshops, as Chopard is an Official Partner of the Festival.
Caroline Scheufele recalls her first meeting with Pierre Viot: “I noticed the Palme d’Or just behind him in his office. I asked to have a closer look and seeing my keen interest, he asked if I would like to come up with a new version for him, a “makeover” of some sort. I was delighted and took on the task with great enthusiasm! The following year in 1998, when the best film in the competition was announced, the audience discovered a Palme d’Or of unprecedented beauty, symbolising the love of cinema. Caroline Scheufele decided to make the Palme d’Or lighter while giving it greater ‘depth’. She emphasised the veins in the stalk and the regulation 19 leaves, appearing to have been caught in mid-motion. She also designed the stalk so that it ended in the shape of a heart, one of Chopard’s jewellery emblems. Last but not least, the golden palm rests on a crystal cushion shaped like an emerald-cut diamond.
70TH CANNES FILM FESTIVAL RED CARPET COLLECTION
To celebrate the 70th Cannes Film Festival, Chopard produced not least than 70 Red Carpet pieces that dazzled with millions of sparks from every red carpet and at the Chopard party. But it didn’t stop there. In addition, Chopard went on to produce a special edition. Two collections in a strange collaboration with Rihanna. Rihanna’s ‘urban’ lifestyle inspired jewellery collection – 18K gold knuckledusters, heavy-duty chain motifs and High Jewellery collection. The latter inspired by Rihanna’s origin – colourful Barbados. As we wrote previously, Rihanna was delighted about the collaboration and commented on her Instagram: “had a blast tonight at the official launch for our collaboration”. And so were her followers, whose median income is $19,800 per annum, -which highlights this curious collaboration- according to Demographics Pro.
Editor in Chief of Ikon London Magazine, journalist, film producer and founder of The DAFTA Film Awards (The DAFTAs).
