There is something Daleesque in the shops this February.
Certainly less precious than the famous Ruby Lips brooch in ruby with pearl teeth by the Catalan artist, inspired by the smile of Mae West, but no less creative (nor surrealist at Schiaparelli, on a silver metal and brass cuff), the The mouth motif makes a remarkable entrance into boutiques, design or figurative on bracelets, rings and earrings.
Without overshadowing the heart, the symbol par excellence of love whatever it may be and a best-seller dear to many houses (Poiray, Chopard, Tiffany & Co., etc.), the mouth is, according to the creator who takes it, another way, more intimate, fun or arty to celebrate attachment.
“
More sensual too,
” adds British designer Solange Azagury-Partridge, whose luscious Hotlips rings in colors inspired by women's lipstick shades, created in 1995, are on the fingers of many celebrities and young girls who wear them more for them only as a token of love.
Its rosebud shape is also close to that of the heart.
The two designs coexist very well in the world of jewelry but the message they convey does not have the same intensity.
» Indeed, the mouths cut on coral, garnet or chiseled on gold bring together a new clientele, sometimes judging the heart motif too hackneyed or wise.
Read alsoThe jeweler Poiray always makes hearts beat
More sensual and less engaging than the heart
“
I would not be offered a heart to my partner, with whom I have just started a relationship.
But why not a mouth, it's more modern, less cliché and it will scare him less!
» admits Martin, 33, who is thinking of marking the occasion for Valentine's Day.
Moreover, at Marie-Hélène de Taillac, where hearts have always been part of the collections, the Tender Kiss pendants, earrings and rings with raised lips, faceted in hard stones, are a hit.
“
Perhaps because it is less engaging to offer a mouth than a heart?
submits the creator.
I have always loved this pattern on jewelry.
Drawing a mouth, like sending an emoticon, is for me sending a kiss, it's light.
»
On the left, the Ruby Lips brooch by Salvador Dali in 1949. On the right, Schiaparelli's surrealist bracelet, in a nod to the collaboration between Dali and Elsa Schiaparelli around the "bouches" suit from the winter 1937-38 haute couture collection , €1,100.
Salvador Dalí, Fundació Gala-Salvador Dalí/Schiaparelli
Singer Dua Lipa (left) and model Bella Hadid (right), both fans of Solange Azagury-Partridge's Hotlips rings, €310.
Hotlips by Solange
The Marie-Hélène de Taillac hand-cut garnet Tender Lips pendant, €650.
Marie-Hélène de Taillac
A post-Covid poetic inspiration
For his part, Dinh Van is mutating his iconic Menottes motif, a symbol of attachment since 1976. Like his recent Double Hearts creations, the jeweler is introducing a limited edition Maillon bracelet and semi-pavé diamond necklace, a new interpretation of the signature notches that have become clasps with two graphic mouths that intertwine.
“
The 2 Lips pattern was imagined at the end of confinement, as a tribute to the
French kiss
celebrating the return of kisses in a period of restrictions,”
explains Dinh Van
.
It’s a more contemporary interpretation of our Double Hearts which fits into its time and plays with codes.”
2 Lips bracelet in yellow gold and diamonds, Dinh Van, €1,650 Dinh Van
The era of these forbidden kisses has also inspired since 2021 Frédérique Dessemond, the creator of Ginette NY who reworks the pattern on fine earrings and pendants to remember “
this difficult time when we wore masks, where we were deprived of this intimacy which binds us to each other.
The Amore collection suggests sensuality and intimacy in a poetic, delicate and less expected way.
»
Naturally, Atelier VM, specialist in soldered jewelry, intended to never be removed, offers its version.
“
The mouth is the queen bee of the face and the heart
,” says Viola Naj Oleari, one of the founders of the Italian jeweler.
Lips speak!
I have always loved observing their movements, they are visually strong, placed on a piece of jewelry.
» Particularly on two models of openwork rings, housing a brilliant or a ruby and a second skin effect pendant in coral, which will appeal to the new generation.
Amore earrings by Ginette NY, €315.
Ginette NY
Bocca Lolita mouthpiece, in yellow gold and coral, Atelier VM, €940.
VM workshop