Making Waves: Meet The Diorissima High Jewellery Collection

Dior cruised into Venice, transforming the city into a dreamscape for the debut of Diorissima – a High Jewellery collection spun from whimsy, wonder and light

Christian Dior once said: “Colour is what gives jewels their worth. They light up and enhance the face. Nothing is more elegant than a black skirt and sweater worn with a sparkling multi-stoned necklace.” It is a sentiment that seems to have found its most joyful expression in the hands of Victoire de Castellane. For nearly three decades, the creative director of Dior High Jewellery has transformed precious stones into fantastical worlds – kaleidoscopic gardens, enchanted landscapes and dreamlike treasures that shimmer with irreverence and imagination. Her creations are not merely jewels but acts of joyful rebellion, designed for those bold enough to wear a rainbow of gems with the same ease as a black sweater.

This summer, Dior unveiled Diorissima – a 141-piece high jewellery collection that, in the house’s own language, slips between ‘abstraction and naturalism’. Presented in Venice to an audience of clients, press, and the quietly initiated, the showing had several secret layers, starting with a jaunty boat ride across town to the long-silent Palazzo del Casinò.

Shuttered since the late 1990s and now reawakened for spectacle – the collection was revealed in a setting that felt like Baz Luhrmann reimagined Dior through a Venetian fever dream. Guests arrived by boat, skimming across the lagoon into a drinks reception staged with theatrical precision: Murano glass catching fractured light, gilded palm trees politely punctuating tables like ornamental sentinels, and bespoke Dior Maison tableware scattered with hearts, aces, spades and diamonds – a quiet nod to the storied casino. Dinner, orchestrated by celebrity chef Mauro Colagreco, paid homage to the incredible seafood of the region.

After dessert, guests were led into a vast, ballroom-like space where Diorissima is finally unveiled in full cinematic bloom – not as a display, but as a reveal. As a further flourish, Jonathan Anderson contributed a debut gesture of his own: 20 haute couture gowns designed specifically for the show, his first for Dior. Seen by candle and reflected light, they framed the jewels in the form of bustier silhouettes, backless gowns, and velvet tailoring – each look functioning less as garment than as the perfect pedestal for the pieces themselves.

With several different themes running through the bespoke collection, Victoire successfully merged different worlds to create the Diorissima universe. She explained that “This collection features three major themes: botany, the marine world and the celestial universe. They are three small worlds that constitute the universe of this collection. I did not try to balance them out or stick to a global structure. I was guided by the thread of inspiration, punctuated by scenes I envisioned. The result is an ideal world, a haven that is a disordered version of the real world.”

The collection had all the expected necklaces, bracelets, earrings and rings, but what really stood out was how cleverly many of the pieces pulled double duty. Brooches could be flipped into hair clips, necklaces transformed into bracelets, all with a simple twist or clasp – jewellery that didn’t just accessorise, but adapted. “This collection is the quintessential representation of my approach to jewellery: with total freedom and joy. Creating should always be a pleasure. A creation of mine could not be any different. Hence it is important that my creations speak of joy, are colorful, have nods to my childhood, play with scale and dimensions and do not respect perspective and proportions,” Victoire said at the time.

Among the collection’s showstoppers was the Diorissima Fluofleur necklace, a dazzling feat of craftsmanship that required an impressive 970 hours of work. At its heart sits a striking 10.38-carat pear-cut rubellite, framed by a constellation of 228 diamonds – including 209 round-cut and 19 pear-cut stones – totalling 4.9 carats. It’s the montage of colour that truly sets this creation apart. Crafted in pink gold, the necklace brings together Akoya white cultured pearls, tsavorite and rhodolite garnets, blue sapphires, blue-green tourmalines, yellow sapphires and purple sapphires in a composition that feels both playful and exquisitely refined. Bold in scale and rich in detail, it is a jewel that captures the collection’s spirit of unapologetic creativity and exceptional savoir-faire. “I created this collection as an ode to life, an expression of joie de vivre. When Christian Dior founded his house, he probably imagined that we could once again celebrate the joy of life, and, for me, all these jewels are like little living creatures, little odes to life that inhabit an ideal world in a joyful garden, a sort of paradise.”

Lead Image Credit: The Diorissima collection was presented against a backdrop of 20 Haute Couture creations – a design-first moment for Jonathan Anderson

Images Supplied

From the Harper’s Bazaar Arabia July/August 2026 issue