A fervent environmental activist sensitive to the Journey to Sustainable Luxury pursued by Chopard since 2013, Marion Cotillard dreamed of creating a jewellery set that would embody both her style and her personal idea of responsible jewellery. Caroline Scheufele, Co-President and Artistic Director of Chopard suggested making her dream come true with the support and expertise of her ateliers. Together with Eliott Bliss, the artistic director in charge of her styling, the Oscar-winning actress threw herself passionately into this adventure – Chopard Ice Cube Capsule by Marion Cotillard.
Revisiting the Ice Cube aesthetic
The project stemmed from Marion Cotillard’s desire to extend her environmental and social concerns to the world of jewellery; in addition to creating versatile, ever-changing adornments to suit every moment of the day, items of jewellery to suit the whims of every woman.
Caroline Scheufele left the artistic direction of the project entirely to Marion Cotillard and Eliott Bliss, while she provided responsibly mined materials along with the technical support required from her Artisans to ensure the manufacture of these jewels with their enduring radiance. Thus was born the Ice Cube Capsule by Marion Cotillard collection.
Playing on the graphic shapes and rock’n’roll spirit of Chopard’s Ice Cube collection and with the idea of ethical jewellery, Marion Cotillard inspired seven Haute Joaillerie creations in Fairmined-certified ethical gold and diamonds from RJC-certified suppliers. And so it was that the Chopard Haute Joaillerie atelier gave life to a ring and six earrings.
As the French actress explained: “Chopard has accompanied me since my debut as an actress and I share Caroline Scheufele’s commitment to ethics, so this new collaboration is a great way to further strengthen the ties between us“.
Chopard’s Co-President added: “Marion Cotillard is very creative and all our discussions on this project have been extremely inspiring. By bringing her interpretation to our Ice Cube collection, she is inventing a contemporary and relaxed way to wear diamonds. It is a great pleasure to combine her ideas with our expertise in the realm of ethical jewellery”.
Ice Cube jewellery comprises the graphic alignment of small faceted cubes and is recognisable by the easy-going manner in which the jewellery can be worn solo or stacked, as if it had been acquired at different times in a woman’s life. Marion Cotillard has infused the Ice Cube collection, renowned for its geometry, with a wave of asymmetry however, giving it an even more contemporary look and feel.
The Marion Cotillard collection thus shows undeniable boldness in disrupting the aesthetic codes of traditional jewellery, redesigning the very idea of a “set”. The earrings in her capsule collection are all different, complementary, and made to be worn as part of a mix and match game that studs a woman’s day.
One side features a series consisting of two connected gold rings to wear on top of the ear; followed by a diamond-set counterpart; and finally, on the lobe, a princess-cut solitaire diamond with a square shape recalling the small faceted cubes of the rings.
The other ear features a new combination of three rings connected via the back of the ear, each set with a small diamond, then another, also set with diamond; and finally, on the lobe, a cascade of generous princess-cut diamonds, discreetly set to entirely cover the underlying gold. All these ear jewels have been designed as clips, as Marion Cotillard intends them for all women, whether or not their ears are pierced.
Completing this series of earrings to be worn solo or stacked, she has created a ring composed of two rings connected by a princess-cut solitaire diamond.
Echoing responsible luxury
Like all Chopard watch and jewellery creations since July 2018, the new models in this Ice Cube Capsule by Marion Cotillard collection are made of ethical gold. The 18-carat yellow gold used for these models, mined in accordance with the best social and environmental guarantees certified by the Fairmined label, has been smelted in Chopard‘s workshops.
It is indeed one of the few Maisons to have its own in-house foundry, a privilege that enabled it to convert to 100% ethical gold. Diamonds, on the other hand, are sourced from suppliers who are members of the Responsible Jewellery Council. The Maison Chopard and Caroline Scheufele have always been actively involved in the well-being of the men and women mining raw materials.
Through its Journey to Sustainable Luxury launched in 2013, Chopard asserts its commitment to promoting responsible and ethical luxury and has thus become the first great watchmaker-jeweller to make its customers aware of the origin of its raw materials. “True luxury depends on knowing the origin of our products“, as Caroline Scheufele likes to remind people.
“We know that the project is ambitious and that much remains to be done. Rome was not built in a day. But we have to start somewhere to improve the whole industry.” To date, in addition to gold and diamonds, Chopard has already worked with responsibly mined opals, emeralds and Paraïba tourmalines.
Marion Cotillard, Friend of the Maison Chopard
Marion Cotillard and the Maison Chopard are engaged in a long-term love affair, in which each accompanies the other in achieving key milestones. It all began in 2004, when the actress, who was still at the beginning of her career, received the Trophée Chopard: an award created at Caroline Scheufele’s instigation to provide annual recognition for two up-and-coming international acting talents during the Cannes Film Festival. In 2008, she was adorned with Chopard jewellery – it is sometimes whispered in Hollywood that the Maison is a lucky charm at the Oscars – when she won the Best Actress distinction at the 80th Academy Awards ceremony.
This led to a close and sustained friendship with Caroline Scheufele. A fervent environmental activist, the actress found it entirely natural to support the Maison Chopard when its Co-President launched the Journey to Sustainable Luxury. In May 2013, she became the very first actress to tread the red carpet of the Cannes Film Festival wearing the initial models from the Chopard Green Carpet Collection, entirely crafted from ethical Fairmined-certified gold and diamonds from suppliers who are members of the Responsible Jewellery Council.
In 2015, she joined Caroline Scheufele in designing a new bracelet from the Green Carpet Collection, made of ethical Fairmined-certified gold and set for the first time with black opals that were fully traceable and responsibly mined. A regular fixture on red carpets for the promotion of her films, Marion Cotillard never fails to trust the Maison to provide her jewellery choices and willingly accompanies it on the major stages of its Journey to Sustainable Luxury.
Ice Cube Capsule by Marion Cotillard Technical details
Earrings in Fairmined-certified ethical 18-carat yellow gold set with princess-cut diamonds (totalling 17.76cts).
Ref. 840163-0001
Ring in Fairmined-certified ethical 18-carat yellow gold set with a 5.73-carat princess-cut diamond.
Ref. 820163-0001
Chopard is one of the last family-run watchmaking and Jewellery Company. Since the 1980s, Karl and Karin’s children Caroline and Karl-Friedrich have played an active part in the company. Caroline and Karl-Friedrich are Chopard’s current Co-Presidents. They each showed their independence: Caroline Scheufele, who is responsible of the ladies’ collections, developed the jewellery section and later the high-end jewellery department while her brother Karl-Friedrich, who managed the men’s collections, developed sports watches during the 1980s and the Chopard Manufacture in Fleurier, which produces the L.U.C movements, in the 1990s.
