Chopard collaborates with global music icon, Mariah Carey, for the Happy Butterfly x Mariah Carey Collection
By The Time Place Magazine
What happens when one of the world’s leading luxury jewellers meets one of the world’s most talented singers? The answer is a range of beautifully light, dainty jewellery inspired by the butterfly and wonderfully interpreted in the Happy Butterfly x Mariah Carey collection and the Chopard x Mariah Carey collection.
The unprecedented collaboration was born on Christmas—the most wonderful time of the year, and no doubt Mariah’s favourite season. It was in December 2020, when Mariah received a book of the Red Carpet Collection from Chopard’s Co-President and Artistic Director Caroline Scheufele.
Initially, Mariah wanted to honour the diamond disc for her hit single “All I Want for Christmas is You”. She also expressed her admiration for the Maison’s creations and ethical values. She found out that the resonance with her own world seemed so natural, that she suggested a collaboration that would enable her to create her first jewellery collection with the Maison.
Two sets of jewellery inspired by the butterfly. A symbol of metamorphosis, the butterfly is the dazzling emblem of the energy that has borne Mariah to unprecedented longevity. It is also the name of the sixth studio album by the singer. Released in 1997, “Butterfly” is infused with R&B and hip-hop, an album symbolising her newfound freedom. After the chrysalis, a rebirth.
Mariah herself considers “Butterfly” her magnum opus and a turning point in both her life and career. The album spawned five singles, most notably “Honey” and “Butterfly”. The butterfly, the supreme emblem of lightness and transformation, became a symbol of pride for Mariah, a principle of reinvention of oneself in a spirit that was airy, delicate and all about the journey. It has infused these creations with all their elegance, daintiness and symbolic power. For Chopard, the butterfly is a style icon, conveying renewed aspirations and a free-spirited approach to life.
Like all of Chopard’s creations since 2018, the Chopard x Mariah Carey collection is crafted in ethical gold. The three creations in this Haute Joaillerie collection are made of Fairmined-certified ethical 18-carat white gold and diamonds from suppliers approved by the Responsible Jewellery Council. This approach is in line with the objectives of the Journey to Sustainable Luxury undertaken by the Maison, as well as Mariah’s values and charitable commitments. The “Songbird Supreme” offers a stunning interpretation of the butterfly in this entirely diamond-paved jewellery collection.
The Maison’s savoir-faire in capturing the voluptuousness of the butterfly’s wings in Fairmined-certified ethical 18-carat white gold is accentuated by the sparkling light of the diamonds, whose differences in size create an extraordinarily rich paved texture. Its asymmetrical wings surround a diamond heart that seems to impart its lively motion to them. Around the neck and as an ear pendant beneath one of the butterfly’s wings flows a river of round-cut and heart-shaped diamonds, like the sparkling drops of a waterfall, giving exquisite freshness to this set.
The classic Chopard “dancing diamonds” are reinterpreted by Mariah Carey in the Happy Butterfly x Mariah Carey collection. The design itself still follows the legendary codes of Happy Diamonds. A transparent open-worked heart where the dancing diamond nestles between two sapphire crystals. Four majestic wings unfold in a whole new way, masterfully reinventing the codes of symmetry. Paved in either diamonds or carnelian, the wings give amplitude and movement to the talisman jewels through their asymmetry. Available in ethical rose or white gold, the butterfly makes an appearance on a pendant, a bangle, a ring and a pair of earrings, adorned with responsibly-sourced diamonds.
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