Besides their cultural treasures, Italy is home to numerous splendours in the horticultural world, including the Boboli Gardens in Florence, The Masone Labirinth in Parma, and the Bosco Isabella in Tuscany. The glorious Italian gardens—with their enchanting labyrinths, mysterious mazes, and where flowers like wisteria and magnolias mingle—offered a wonderful wealth of inspiration for the new 2024 Labirinti Gucci High Jewellery collection. Taken from the Italian word for ‘labyrinths’, these magical landscapes, which shape nature with geometric and linear forms, have been masterfully interpreted utilising exquisite and extraordinary coloured gemstones.
One hundred and forty one-of-a-kind creations, crafted with exceptional quality and unparalleled artistry, formed the collection across three themes: symmetry and ordered beauty, geometric splendour, and blooming nature.
Symmetry And Ordered Beauty
(right) A 28.07 carat spinel sits at the centre of a dazzling white gold necklace.
The balanced sense of harmony and clarity of design of geometric hedges of the Giardini all’italiana (Italian-style gardens) is presented in the form of a striking statement cuff with a dazzling 5.93-carat Colombian emerald with an intense green hue and hallmark jardin (garden) inclusions as its nucleus. Five fancy diamonds adorn floral motifs that are framed by a linear pattern of pavé diamonds, a simultaneous ingenious nod to the House’s G signature and the paths of a labyrinth.
Another glittering creation is a white gold necklace with flowers in bloom and a linear chain featuring a discreet G logo meeting at the point of a remarkable dangling 28.07-carat spinel. An array of dainty tourmaline rubellite beads and graceful pear-cut tsavorites elevate the piece in a display of Gucci’s unique expertise in playing with the refined elements of multiple motifs.
Geometric Splendour
(right) A matching 10.76 carat aquamarine ring.
An exemplary three-strand necklace that could’ve been worn by the Queen of Sheba herself is studded with Paraiba tourmalines, interspersed with darker green variants of the stone to create an enchanting field of colour. Admired for its hue likened to waters of the ocean, a ravishing 62.58-carat octagonal-cut Santa Maria aquamarine from Brazil elegantly rests on an intricate labyrinthine pattern narrating the journey of life’s surprises. An outline of unique, elongated diamond baguettes is masterfully set to allow the necklace to sparkle from every angle and suspended with a sapphire bead and 3.01-carat kite shape diamond. A matching bracelet with a 35.69-carat aquamarine, a 10.76-carat aquamarine ring, and a pair of earrings totalling more than four carats complete the opulent set.
Blooming Nature
(right)A necklace with a 113.35ct green tourmaline.
Deviating from the floral motifs and greenery, the iconic Italian fashion house’s creativity was derived from enchanting dragonflies with their iridescent wings, a symbol of rebirth and freedom. This is encapsulated in a remarkable brooch of tanzanites, Paraiba tourmalines, and white diamonds sitting alongside verdant emeralds as well as white and fancy diamonds. The beautiful insect also features in mismatched earrings crafted in pink spinels, emeralds, and white diamonds.
The pièce de resistance of the collection is undoubtedly a show-stopping necklace featuring a magnificent 113.35-carat green tourmaline in an elongated shape. The breathtaking gem is free of inclusions and is a masterpiece designed to allow the tourmaline to be detached and worn as different jewels.
The Italian House continues to push boundaries since entering the high jewellery segment in 2019 and the Labirinti collection is a testament of how it brings to life precious gemstones through incredible techniques in artisanship and design.
Lead image: The collection is a journey of discovery through flourishing Italian gardens.
