FASHION Always a sumptuous affair, the Biennale des Antiquaires that ran from September 11 to 21, this time featured an es- pecially magnificent exhibit. The retrospective of Chanel Fine Jewelry, with 100 stunning pieces from the line's his- tory, offered a view of the world of jewelry that Coco Chanel created, which combined the luxury of fine jewelry and forward-thinking fashion design. The first jewelry line to approach fine jewelry as a branch of fashion, Chanel set the benchmark and created the possibilty for jewelry lines from haute couture designers like Dior, and showed ‘more traditional houses like Cartier and Boucheron how modem jewelry is done. ‘The first Chanel jewelry collection, created in 1932 with the help of master jeweler Verdura, was made from plati- num and diamonds in order to be “of the highest value in the smallest volume” according to Coco Chanel. Many of the original designs from this 1932 collection were recreated for the Biennale, including the necklaces "Comete’ “Fontaine’, and "Franges"- designs that look startlingly modern and have influenced jewelry styles and more since their creation. Coco Chanel believed in diamonds and pearis for a woman. She loved jewelry- her multiple strands of pearls became her emblem and through her, a symbol of elegance. She believed that jewelry should emphasize the deli- cacy of a woman's throat, and so necklaces and brooches have always been the heart of Chanel Fine Jewelry. Following closely the ideas of Coco Chanel, many new pieces have been created since last year, marking 75 years of fine jewelry for the company. These pieces elegantly employ her classic symbols- the camellia flower above all, stars, and swirls. ‘The “Haute Couture" necklace, a graceful collar of spirals of diamonds, which took 500 hours to make and is priced at a mind-blowing 1.7 million euros, demonstrates the avant-garde luxury that Chanel created, and continues to ‘command. Fine jewelry was limited to mostly aristocratic circles, and fashionable jewelry was made in less valu- able materials, until Coco Chanel showed the world with her own stylish image and her ground-breaking house of haute couture that nothing is more elegant than high-style fine jewelry. And Coco Chanel's enduring legacy is that nothing surpasses elegance. by Laura Rysman