No one does detail quite like Swarovski. And their new Spring-Summer 2011 collection of jewellery, ‘Wings of Poetry', is all delicate detail — intricate crystal-studded veins on a butterfly's wings, the soft blush of colour on hand-painted beads, and swift lines capturing a kingfisher in mid-flight.
The collection, with its delectable highlights of fuchsia and mint (the two important colours of the season), was launched with a swish fashion show in Singapore recently. Nathalie Colin, Creative Director of the Consumer Good Business Division of the Swarovski Group, was on hand, and described the muse for the collection as being a “painter in the springtime.”
“She goes for a walk in bucolic Nature and discovers these flashes of colour — the leaves, the flowers and the butterflies, and puts them in a collage in her book,” she said.
From the midst of that colourful collage come gorgeous necklaces, earrings, pendants, bracelets and rings, their designs inspired by Monet's impressionist paintings of Nature and Pointillist artworks of the 19th Century.
The pieces based on the ‘Free Butterflies' theme are especially lovely, with everything from a refined gold filigree-work butterfly-wing pendant to an abstract imagining of the entire butterfly in a pale pink crystal mesh choker. And then you have tiny, finely-wrought snails or bumblebees perched on rings or dangling off charm bracelets.
“Every little jewel in the collection tells a story when you get close,” said Nathalie.
Other pieces feature bunches of glowing crystals just bursting with an incredible effusion of colour — pinks and violets and greens and more — or clusters of beautifully hand-painted beads on chunky necklaces or rings that Nathalie describes poetically as “little bunches of Nature”. The look overall is ethereal, with even the muted pieces (think translucent white and pale mint crystal) featuring whimsical dashes of bright red, “like a painter's touch.”
You also have pieces with a more classic Swarovski look, all chic, contemporary lines and smooth metallic finishes (gold, rhodium and ruthenium). And at the other end of the spectrum are the younger, more playful pieces — such as their tiny Manga-inspired charms, key rings, and pendants, with a distinctly cheeky attitude. You could say there's a little magic for everyone in this collection.
