Sandra‘s Closet

I have always been obsessed with the designs of Victoire de Castellane. This summer, she offers a fresh take on the Milly Carnivora collection with new fine jewelry designs that pay homage to Milly-la-Forêt, Mr. Dior’s beloved garden.

Embellished with colorful lacquer and imbued with the atelier’s savoir-faire, the whimsical flowers celebrate Mr. Dior’s passion for nature and the creative director’s artistry. She has dreamed up bewitching flowers and gave life to fantastic blooms, lacquered in colorful hues, sprinkled with diamonds or precious stones.

A signature tonique by Dior Fine Jewelry’s Creative Director, lacquer is meticulously applied by hand and accented by gold and diamonds to complete the color palette of this extraordinary herbarium. It is just one more way this reimagined line embodies Dior savior-faire.

Necklace CHF 31.000, Earrings CHF 18.500, Ring CHF 19.500
I am in love…

LoL, Sandra

Photos: © Dior
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GEM DIOR, Victoire de Castellane‘s new collection, celebrates her love of stones by presenting pieces with singular and surprising shapes. This amazingly beautiful line of abstract, 1970s-flavored watches and jewelry features patches of various gemstones — marking the first time the Dior designer has created a watches and jewelry collection together.

Each creation, inspired by couture and Mr. Dior’s colorful fabric samples, is made up of asymmetrical and angular sections set side by side like mineral strata. This collection celebrates natural and authentic beauty through unique, strong pieces.

The new Gem Dior line includes seven watch models with irregular, octagonal faces and clasp-less bracelets, as well as 11 pieces of jewelry — rings, bracelets and earrings, that draw inspiration from the geometry of stones. Additional interchangeable alligator bracelets come for the watches.

I am loving it.

LoL, Sandra

Photos: © Dior

Victoire de Castellane’s creations continue the sparkling story started by Christian Dior himself: a story of femininity, elegance and refinement, adorned with delicately rendered boldness.

«Yes… A word whispered in your ear, a muffled cry that lies upon your neck… The Oui collection reveals a selfish pleasure, a precious gift or a commitment to life.»
Victoire de Castellane

Oui earrings in yellow gold with diamonds, € 1500

Now, the jewelry designer expanded the Dior «oui» collection, which means «yes» in English, featurings rings, earrings, bracelets and necklaces that spell out romantic French phrases.

Oui double ring in yellow gold with diamonds, € 1600

There’s for example a pink gold double ring that says «je t’aime» (I love you), dotted with diamonds; a pair of yellow gold earrings that feature the word «toi» (you) on one side, «moi» (me) on the other; and a diamond-embellished «oui» bracelet and necklace, which come in 18k gold in pink gold.

Oui earrings in yellow gold with diamonds, € 1500

Oui double ring in yellow gold with diamonds, € 1600

And don’t be shy. The cursive font used in the collection also lets you wear several pieces together,  make a statement by stringing together different rings, one on each finger.

Oui bracelet in pink gold with diamond, € 1000

Oui collier in pink gold with diamond, € 1200

I truly hope that my better half reads my blog 🙂 …

LoL, Sandra

Photos: © Dior

«Women, with their intuitive instinct, understood that I dreamed not only of making them more beautiful, but happier too.» – Christian Dior

Victoire de Castellane continues the story of DIOR‘s «Rose des vents» collection with a new celestial lucky charm, so-called «Rose Céleste». A twist of grains encircles the medallion, which turns to switch between the moon and sun sides.

On the front, a mother-of-pearl moon and three small white gold stars have been embedded with infinite care in an onyx disc in order to reveal all their brilliance.

On the reverse, a majestic yellow gold sun, with nine rays of different sizes, stands out from the mother-of-pearl background. Its almond-shaped eye and its smile were defined with a subtle level of refinement. The ornamental stones have been polished to give them a rounded surface, while the gold that encircles them has been shaped to form a rice-grain effect.

Taking its inspiration from Christian Dior‘s highly superstitious nature and his passion for astrology, the new must-have jewellery pieces are available as a medallion, bracelet or necklace, these talismans offer a new invitation to travel through the Dior’s rich heritage, by day and by night.

Bracelet DIOR Rose Céleste €1900
Necklace DIOR Rose Céleste €2000
Médaillon DIOR Rose Céleste €4500

LoL, Sandra

Photos: © Dior

Yesterday, I spotted the new jewelry collection by DIOR Joaillerie at the Zurich boutique and fell immediately in love. Named ASTRO DIOR, it is a celebration of the superstitious character of Christian Dior and consists of 12 necklaces in gold and mother of pearl, allowing you to now wear your astrological sign.

Christian Dior at a feast of St. Catherine, circa 1950

Christian Dior loved astrology. Therefore he visited Madame Delahaye, his clairvoyant, before opening his eponymous Maison in 1946. After the consultation, she confirmed to him that the launch of his brand was written in the stars.

Over the years, many references to the designer’s beliefs in astrology and mysticism appeared as he created certain pieces with a nickname deriving from those fields: Bonne étoile (lucky star), Horoscope, Tour de cartes (card trick) and Cartomancienne (cartomancer).

Astrological references on the DIOR runways

The House’s creative director Maria Grazia Chiuri continued this legacy by embroidering zodiac signs and celestial motifs on cashmere sweaters, bags and more.

Making of ASTRO DIOR 

Victoire de Castellane also celebrates this fascination with astrology now with the launch of these beautiful 12 necklaces that are available in stores now.

LoL, Sandra

ASTRO DIOR – Aries

ASTRO DIOR – Taurus

ASTRO DIOR – Gemini

ASTRO DIOR – Cancer

ASTRO DIOR – Leo

ASTRO DIOR – Viergo

ASTRO DIOR – Libra

ASTRO DIOR – Scorpio

ASTRO DIOR – Sagittarius

ASTRO DIOR – Capricorn

ASTRO DIOR – Aquarius

ASTRO DIOR – Pisces

 Photos: Courtesy of DIOR and © Sandra Bauknecht

“Behind the symbol of travel, we find Christian Dior’s star and the idea of a good luck charm, but also the rose, his favourite flower.” – Victoire de Castellane

From Christian Dior’s garden at Granville to the discovery of faraway lands, with Paris’ 8th arrondissement cropping up along with way, the Rose des Vents collection from Dior Joaillerie, designed by Victoire de Castellane, is a voyage on the four winds through the House’s history. It features Christian Dior’s good-luck star and the rose, his favorite flower.

The new campaign, photographed by Patrick Demarchelier, reveals a Dior woman with a natural, timeless beauty wearing the Rose des Vents creations.

This year, the medallion comes in versions with a pavé of diamonds, as well as rose gold and onyx, and has been joined by four pendants and five rings embellished with a little rope of gold that twists around the finger and follows the outline of the jewel. Being reversible, they can be worn either star or stone side out.

I love this fine jewelry collection. It is so much fun to mix and match them… and I really appreciate the craftsmanship behind that you can explore below.

LoL, Sandra

Photos: Courtesy of Dior and © Sandra Bauknecht

CHER DIOR, the new high jewelry collection designed by Victoire de Castellane for Dior includes 21 pieces, all beautifully created with vibrant center stones, lacelike settings, and surprising color combinations.

I love this new delicate addition to the House’s haute joaillerie line and you?

LoL, Sandra

Photos: Courtesy of Dior

Today is my 11th wedding anniversary. It is crazy how time just flies. If you are curious how I looked in 2001, click here for a previous post.

Yesterday, I went to Munich for work which felt like taking a trip down memory lane. This was the place where my civil wedding took place 11 years ago. The religious ceremony was celebrated one week later in Marbella, Spain.

Being all nostalgic, I was woken up by my husband this morning with a wonderful surprise:
The amazing Diorette earrings by Dior Joaillerie. matching my favourite ring perfectly.

After all those years, it really feels good to say: “I would marry him again!”

LoL, Sandra

Photos: © Sandra Bauknecht

“Bal Vénitien” ring

Dior has launched a new High Jewelry collection “Le Bal des Roses”.

Reminiscent of the Parisian fashion house’s Haute Couture, the stunning creations pay tribute to Monsieur Dior’s favourite flower, the rose. The collection brings together 12 unique pieces that evoke the image of blossoming women attending a ball in their most beautiful gowns. Sumptuous pieces of jewelry with hidden details and stones set within stones evoking luxurious emboidered fabrics. As you know, I am a huge fan of the Dior’s High Jewelry designer Victoire de Castellane. With those designs, she has outdone herself once more.
Wow!

Enjoy the video at the end of this post for a closer look at those eyecatchers.

LoL, Sandra

Photos: © Dior

„Who said that real jewels have to be boring?“
Victoire de Castellane

Barbara Hutton wearing the 55-carat Pasha diamond and the Vladimir emeralds

When it comes to fine jewelry, Dior’s Victoire de Castellane is the designer that I truly admire for her amazing creations that are for me the most beautiful and outstanding pieces in the world. Often imitated but never equalled, Victoire is the lady of the rings.

Bold, chunky and huge are her designs that appear more like pieces of art than jewelry.

Born into an aristocratic Parisian family, her first experience with making jewelry happened when she dismantled her grandmother’s (Sylvia Hennessy from the cognac family) charm bracelet and transformed it into a pair of earrings, much to her mother’s dislike. As a young girl, her grandma and her best friend heiress Barbara Hutton involved the little girl in their love for enormous gems. A passion was born.

Victoire de Castellane started her career at Chanel working alongside Karl Lagerfeld as costume jewelry designer for fourteen years. In 1999, she was appointed by Bernard Arnault, CEO of LVMH, as designer of the first ever collection of Fine Jewelry for the house Dior that allowed her to create her own daring and dramatic style that shook up the staid Place Vendôme from the very first beginning.

Each collection tells a story or evokes a place. The French aristocrat is inspired by the exuberance of technicolour, bright and fluorescent. Her designs are known for the best quality enamel with gems and semi precious stones.
“I prefer huge coloured stones instead of diamonds. And I like to wear and design things that look fake; like costume jewelry, but real” , says Victoire.
The collection Milly Carnivora, includes pieces that can open up to show the amazing inside creation. Love those surprises!

The Coffret de Victoire collection for Dior has some of the most unusual and original rings crafted from the finest gems, golds and materials. It includes creations with skulls, cameos and sealife inspirations – a reflection of world travels and exotic adventures with flavours from the ocean and the orient.

This year, the rose flower, which played a big role in the life of Christian Dior, has inspired Victoire de Castellane to create a new jewelry collection for Dior, so-called „Bois de Rose“.

This month, I was lucky to enjoy a presentation of how the rings are crafted at the Dior boutique in Zurich. After having seen the craftmanship and having talked to the goldsmiths who came from Paris for the event, I value Victoire’s designs even more.

Those fanciful wonders sometimes take months to be finished depending on the design. Every little detail is made by hand. I am truly fond of the jewelry’s bold presence.

If you are interested, please visit the Dior homepage for further information and store locations.

So lovely Ladies, think big and enjoy the little forest on your finger…

LoL, Sandra

One of my favourites: Bague Diorette