It is 90 years since Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel created her first high jewellery collection and, to mark the occasion, the fashion house that bears her name has unveiled 1932, a line of jewels that pays tribute to her groundbreaking creations.
Bijoux de Diamants, widely considered to be the world’s first high jewellery collection, was an antidote to the sombre tone of the early 1930s. It was unveiled in 1932, three years after Black Thursday in 1929, which pushed the world into the Great Depression and cast the exuberance of the 1920s into distant memory. Amid collapsing consumer demand, soaring unemployment and rampant inflation, Chanel wanted to create something that represented optimism and renewal.
"Nothing could be better for forgetting the crisis than feasting one's eyes on beautiful new things, which the skills of our craftsmen and women never cease to unveil,” she said.
She was approached by the London Diamond Corporation, which was looking to restore the diamond market to its former lustre. They believed Chanel, a visionary accessories designer and daring business owner whose costume jewellery had recently been lauded by the international press, could help them achieve this goal. So they gave her the task of breathing new life into diamonds.
The decision was greeted with outrage from the traditional jewellers on Paris’ Place Vendome, who joined forces to try to prevent Chanel, the upstart couturier, from creating her jewels, demanding that the pieces be dismantled and the stones returned.
Her response was Bijoux de Diamants. She drew inspiration from the night skies of Paris – a jet-black canvas illuminated by the halo of the moon or stars that sparkled like floating diamonds. As she gazed up at the skies, Chanel decided she would cover women’s skin and hair with showers of meteorites, flaming suns and glowing crescent moons. “If I have chosen diamonds, it is because they represent the greatest value in the smallest volume,” she said.
She applied the principles of haute couture to jewellery for the first time, creating something that was unlike anything else being produced at the time. Chanel focused on the idea of silhouette and balance, which were key to her clothing creations, and worked to highlight the beauty of the diamonds by leaving them unadorned, with classic cuts and invisible settings. "I seek out the motifs that best showcase the brilliance of diamonds – the star, the cross, the fall of graduated stones and large sunburst cabochons,” she said.
Bijoux de Diamants consisted of about 50 pieces, with white and yellow diamonds set in platinum and yellow gold. In addition to comets, moons, suns and stars, there were ribbon bows, fringes, feathers, spirals, circles, squares and crosses. While many of the pieces have been lost over time, in 2012, a documentary shot by Pathe Gaumont was rediscovered. It had been broadcast alongside newsreels in cinemas throughout France in Chanel’s time and featured a selection of pieces from Bijoux de Diamants, filmed in the designer’s private town house at 29 rue du Faubourg Saint-Honore.
Among the pieces that have been identified are 17 brooches, nine pieces of head jewellery, eight necklaces, four rings, three bracelets, two pairs of earrings, two watches and two accessories, including a cigarette case set with diamonds on the inside and the outside.
It was a collection designed with the needs of women in mind – women who were in perpetual motion and needed pieces that didn't interfere with their freedom of movement. "I detest clasps. I’ve done away with clasps. Yet my jewellery is transformable,” Chanel said.
The collection was unveiled on November 5, a symbolic number for Chanel, in an event that brought together international press, Parisian high society and members of the artistic community, including Jean Cocteau, Pablo Picasso, Gloria Swanson and Louis Metman and Georges Duthuit, curators at the Musee des Arts Decoratifs and the Louvre. The collection was presented on wax mannequins that had been made up and styled by Chanel, so they looked as though they might spring to life at any moment.
Now, 90 years later, the maison has created 1932, which traces a new map of the skies. "I wanted to return to the essence of 1932 and to harmonise the message around three symbols: the comet, the moon and the sun. Every heavenly body shines with its own light,” says Patrice Leguereau, director of the Chanel Jewellery Creation Studio.
There are 81 pieces, of which 15 are transformable. Starry volutes wrap around the wrist, while suns sit at the base of the neck. There are sapphires, yellow diamonds, opals, rubies, spinels and tanzanites that cast multi-hued reflections on to the skin.
The collection’s signature piece is the Allure Celeste necklace, which combines round-cut diamonds, an oval 55.55-carat sapphire of a deep and intense blue and a Type IIa DFL 8.05-carat pear-cut diamond. The halos on the transformable piece detach to become brooches, and the central row of diamonds becomes a bracelet, transforming the necklace into a short version and paying homage to Chanel’s original pioneering creations.
INVESTMENT PLEDGES
Cartlow: $13.4m
Rabbitmart: $14m
Smileneo: $5.8m
Soum: $4m
imVentures: $100m
Plug and Play: $25m
Wicked: For Good
Director: Jon M Chu
Starring: Ariana Grande, Cynthia Erivo, Jonathan Bailey, Jeff Goldblum, Michelle Yeoh, Ethan Slater
Rating: 4/5
Essentials
The flights
Emirates and Etihad fly direct from the UAE to Los Angeles, from Dh4,975 return, including taxes. The flight time is 16 hours. Alaska Airlines, United Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Aeromexico and Southwest all fly direct from Los Angeles to San Jose del Cabo from Dh1,243 return, including taxes. The flight time is two-and-a-half hours.
The trip
Lindblad Expeditions National Geographic’s eight-day Whales Wilderness itinerary costs from US$6,190 (Dh22,736) per person, twin share, including meals, accommodation and excursions, with departures in March and April 2018.
The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre 4-cylinder petrol
Power: 154bhp
Torque: 250Nm
Transmission: 7-speed automatic with 8-speed sports option
Price: From Dh79,600
On sale: Now
City's slump
L - Juventus, 2-0
D - C Palace, 2-2
W - N Forest, 3-0
L - Liverpool, 2-0
D - Feyenoord, 3-3
L - Tottenham, 4-0
L - Brighton, 2-1
L - Sporting, 4-1
L - Bournemouth, 2-1
L - Tottenham, 2-1
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Cofe
Year started: 2018
Based: UAE
Employees: 80-100
Amount raised: $13m
Investors: KISP ventures, Cedar Mundi, Towell Holding International, Takamul Capital, Dividend Gate Capital, Nizar AlNusif Sons Holding, Arab Investment Company and Al Imtiaz Investment Group
Getting there
The flights
Emirates and Etihad fly to Johannesburg or Cape Town daily. Flights cost from about Dh3,325, with a flying time of 8hours and 15 minutes. From there, fly South African Airlines or Air Namibia to Namibia’s Windhoek Hosea Kutako International Airport, for about Dh850. Flying time is 2 hours.
The stay
Wilderness Little Kulala offers stays from £460 (Dh2,135) per person, per night. It is one of seven Wilderness Safari lodges in Namibia; www.wilderness-safaris.com.
Skeleton Coast Safaris’ four-day adventure involves joining a very small group in a private plane, flying to some of the remotest areas in the world, with each night spent at a different camp. It costs from US$8,335.30 (Dh30,611); www.skeletoncoastsafaris.com
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
How the UAE gratuity payment is calculated now
Employees leaving an organisation are entitled to an end-of-service gratuity after completing at least one year of service.
The tenure is calculated on the number of days worked and does not include lengthy leave periods, such as a sabbatical. If you have worked for a company between one and five years, you are paid 21 days of pay based on your final basic salary. After five years, however, you are entitled to 30 days of pay. The total lump sum you receive is based on the duration of your employment.
1. For those who have worked between one and five years, on a basic salary of Dh10,000 (calculation based on 30 days):
a. Dh10,000 ÷ 30 = Dh333.33. Your daily wage is Dh333.33
b. Dh333.33 x 21 = Dh7,000. So 21 days salary equates to Dh7,000 in gratuity entitlement for each year of service. Multiply this figure for every year of service up to five years.
2. For those who have worked more than five years
c. 333.33 x 30 = Dh10,000. So 30 days’ salary is Dh10,000 in gratuity entitlement for each year of service.
Note: The maximum figure cannot exceed two years total salary figure.
Company%20profile
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Profile
Company: Justmop.com
Date started: December 2015
Founders: Kerem Kuyucu and Cagatay Ozcan
Sector: Technology and home services
Based: Jumeirah Lake Towers, Dubai
Size: 55 employees and 100,000 cleaning requests a month
Funding: The company’s investors include Collective Spark, Faith Capital Holding, Oak Capital, VentureFriends, and 500 Startups.
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PROFILE OF INVYGO
Started: 2018
Founders: Eslam Hussein and Pulkit Ganjoo
Based: Dubai
Sector: Transport
Size: 9 employees
Investment: $1,275,000
Investors: Class 5 Global, Equitrust, Gulf Islamic Investments, Kairos K50 and William Zeqiri
The National selections
Al Ain
5pm: Bolereau
5.30pm: Rich And Famous
6pm: Duc De Faust
6.30pm: Al Thoura
7pm: AF Arrab
7.30pm: Al Jazi
8pm: Futoon
Jebel Ali
1.45pm: AF Kal Noor
2.15pm: Galaxy Road
2.45pm: Dark Thunder
3.15pm: Inverleigh
3.45pm: Bawaasil
4.15pm: Initial
4.45pm: Tafaakhor
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
Started: 2020
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Entertainment
Number of staff: 210
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Employment lawyer Meriel Schindler of Withers Worldwide shares her tips on achieving equal pay
Do your homework
Make sure that you are being offered a fair salary. There is lots of industry data available, and you can always talk to people who have come out of the organisation. Where I see people coming a cropper is where they haven’t done their homework.
Don’t be afraid to negotiate
It’s quite standard to negotiate if you think an offer is on the low side. The job is unlikely to be withdrawn if you ask for money, and if that did happen I’d question whether you want to work for an employer who is so hypersensitive.
Know your worth
Women tend to be a bit more reticent to talk about their achievements. In my experience they need to have more confidence in their own abilities – men will big up what they’ve done to get a pay rise, and to compete women need to turn up the volume.
Work together
If you suspect men in your organisation are being paid more, look your boss in the eye and say, “I want you to assure me that I’m paid equivalent to my peers”. If you’re not getting a straight answer, talk to your peer group and consider taking direct action to fix inequality.
Developer: Ubisoft Montreal / Ubisoft Toronto
Publisher: Ubisoft
Platforms: Playstation 4, Xbox One, Windows
Release Date: April 10
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Director: Siddharth Anand
Cast: Hrithik Roshan, Tiger Shroff, Ashutosh Rana, Vaani Kapoor
Rating: Two out of five stars
The specs: 2018 Genesis G70
Price, base / as tested: Dh155,000 / Dh205,000
Engine: 3.3-litre, turbocharged V6
Gearbox: Eight-speed automatic
Power: 370hp @ 6,000rpm
Torque: 510Nm @ 1,300rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 10.6L / 100km
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Wicked
Director: Jon M Chu
Stars: Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande, Jonathan Bailey
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
GAC GS8 Specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 248hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 400Nm at 1,750-4,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 9.1L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh149,900
Company%20Profile
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EName%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Ovasave%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20November%202022%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounders%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Majd%20Abu%20Zant%20and%20Torkia%20Mahloul%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Abu%20Dhabi%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ESector%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Healthtech%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ENumber%20of%20staff%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Three%20employees%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestment%20stage%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Pre-seed%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestment%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20%24400%2C000%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Profile Box
Company/date started: 2015
Founder/CEO: Mohammed Toraif
Based: Manama, Bahrain
Sector: Sales, Technology, Conservation
Size: (employees/revenue) 4/ 5,000 downloads
Stage: 1 ($100,000)
Investors: Two first-round investors including, 500 Startups, Fawaz Al Gosaibi Holding (Saudi Arabia)
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Profile
Company name: Marefa Digital
Based: Dubai Multi Commodities Centre
Number of employees: seven
Sector: e-learning
Funding stage: Pre-seed funding of Dh1.5m in 2017 and an initial seed round of Dh2m in 2019
Investors: Friends and family
