The high jewellery collections shaped by rare gems for 2026

LOUIS VUITTON

Made up of 110 pieces grouped into 11 creative themes, Mythica is Louis Vuitton’s largest and most ambitious high jewellery collection to date. At the maison’s design studios in Paris, notions of transformation, triumph, challenges overcome and myth quests were all discussed and resulted in pieces such as the Totem necklace seen here. Expressed in white gold, yellow gold and white diamonds, the standout collier is graphic in design: look closer and spot a repeat chevron pattern of the arrow-like letter V for Vuitton.

HERMÈS

A new high jewellery collection by Hermès is titled HB9, for Haute Bijouterie 9. The Parisian maison’s heritage is famously anchored in all things equestrian – it is said that Hermès’ very first client was the horse. And so HB9 is rich in equine symbols. Other pieces draw from archival designs, such as belts, straps and buckles.

CHAUMET

Place Vendôme stalwart Chaumet, whose clients have included European monarchy, as well as royal households further afield, has long found creative inspiration in flora and in fauna. The maison’s 2026 thematic high jewellery collection is named A Journey Through Nature. Divided into three umbrella chapters, pieces interpret an array of plant life, from the flowers and pods of the vanilla planifolia orchid, to star anise, peppercorns and even the aroma of coffee. The collection’s opening chapter, Botanic Freshness, includes this white gold Tea Field ring.

DIOR JOAILLERIE

Dior unveiled Diorissima, a high jewellery collection of 141 small treasures, at a special event in Venice earlier this year. The collection is designed by Victoire de Castellane, creative director of Dior Joaillerie. Texturally influenced by the art of collage, Diorissima is divided into a trio of thematic worlds, including Lush Vegetation and Mysterious Constellations. Aquatic Depths includes a ring that stands out. Sculptural, the design nods to coral reefs and aquatic flowers found beneath the water’s surface; it shimmers and glistens with pavé-set diamonds and lacquer.

TIFFANY & CO

‘This work is, above all, a game of composition and freedom.’ So says Nathalie Verdeille, the senior vice president chief artistic officer of Tiffany & Co., describing how the US brand’s 2026 Blue Book high jewellery collection came to be. Entitled Hidden Garden, the collection’s pieces are anchored in the work of Jean Schlumberger, the design history-making French jewellery creative who closely partnered with Tiffany & Co. from 1956 onwards. It was Schlumberger who first conceived of the Tiffany & Co. Bird on a Rock brooch, a narrative gem that Verdeille, alongside the Tiffany Design Studio, revisited with this Blue Book collection. The result is a flock of Paradise Birds, wherein ‘each stone became the starting point for a story. Before us were all the colours of the rainbow: fire opals from Mexico, Australian boulder opals, spessartine from Madagascar’, she reminisces. ‘We looked at them like precious eggs, wondering what extraordinary birds might emerge from within.’

CINDY CHAO

The work of Taiwanese jewellery artist Cindy Chao features in museum collections. In London, a seven-petal peony brooch cast from titanium and set with rubies and diamonds is part of the Victoria & Albert Museum’s holdings. Peonies bloom in spring; a new brooch by Chao is decidedly more autumnal in inspiration, depicting a maple leaf.

BUCCELLATI

Serenissima, a group of high jewellery creations by Italian master maker Buccellati, is an ode to Venice, capturing the city’s visual splendour in precious metals and high carat stones. As is always the case at Buccellati, artisanal techniques lead the way; here, white gold is worked to appear as intricate lace, a seemingly featherweight bracelet frosted with 825 white diamonds.

CHANEL

Counting 85 pieces, Chanel’s new Signes & Symboles high jewellery collection is centred on motifs, good luck charms and mascots that were dear to Coco Chanel. Cue comets, lions, camellia flowers and stars. Meanwhile, rings from the collection’s Talisman Constrasté chapter play into another Chanel forte, the use of a colour palette that is elegantly minimal.

BVLGARI

Unveiled at the 17th-century Milanese Villa Arconati earlier this year, Eclettica, a new collection by Roman house Bvlgari, counts more than 150 high jewellery marvels. Named for the Italian word for ‘eclectic’, the collection draws from various epochs, geographies and stylistic movements. Here, the Eclectic Embrace High Jewellery necklace pays tribute to Moorish mosaics and arabesques.

VAN CLEEF & ARPELS

Ancient Egypt has been a creative influence for the designers and makers at Van Cleef & Arpels for more than a century, as the maison’s archive attests. There, pieces exist from the 1920s that drew from the art and culture of Ancient Egypt, created in the wake of the 1922 rediscovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb. Vice versa, the Van Cleef & Arpels pieces purchased by the Egyptian royal family inspire to this day, too. It’s this penchant that Fascinating Egypt, a new high jewellery collection of 180 creations, nods to. Research gave shape to figurative elements – pharaohs, details of temple architecture, Cleopatra or lotus flowers – colour combinations and shapes.

Collaged images by Parick Waugh