French jewellery maison Mellerio unveils a magnificent parure inspired by Queen Marie-Antoinette’s famous garden tapestry that hung in her apartment in the Palace of Versailles, with the regal pineapple as the central motif.

Mellerio's Garden of Dreams

At the recent Paris Haute Couture Week, the House of Mellerio, one of the world’s oldest jewellery maison and a landmark of Place Vendôme, unveiled a dazzling new parure: a vibrant tribute to its centuries-old heritage and craftsmanship.

Founded in 1613, Mellerio famously counted Queen Marie-Antoinette among its clientele. One of her bracelets, adorned with antique cameos and acquired at the gates of Versailles, was recently exhibited at Bergdorf Goodman in New York.

Inspired by the queen’s refined taste and free-spirited joy, Laure-Isabelle Mellerio, Mellerio’s Artistic Director, sought to pay homage by translating into jewellery the sumptuous garden woven into the Grand Ananas tapestry that once adorned Marie-Antoinette’s private apartments at Versailles. For the queen, who once said, “Nothing is too beautiful”, the pineapple, the central motif of the tapestry and magnified in a painting by Jean-Baptiste Oudry, symbolized royal power as the so-called King of Fruits.

The yellow gold and gemstone encrusted Garden of Dreams necklace and earrings

This exotic and richly coloured design resonated deeply with Mellerio’s Artistic Director, whose maison is renowned for its naturalist spirit and mastery of colourful gemstones.

The brilliance of Mellerio Joaillier lies in its ability to reimagine this dreamlike, botanical aesthetic in a thoroughly modern light. The result is the Jardin des Rêves High Jewellery necklace, a painter-jeweller’s palette brought to life through meticulously chosen stones: azure sapphires, pastel aquamarines, and violet tanzanites; emerald-green tourmaline and mint garnet; sunny heliodores, intense rubellites, powdery morganites, vivid pink sapphires, bold spessartites and rosy imperial topazes.

This chromatic symphony evokes the queen’s longing for beauty and escape - her imaginative reveries that continue to inspire today. Jardin des Rêves builds upon Mellerio’s celebrated Pierreries and Jardin Pierreries necklaces, forming a majestic new chapter in this creative lineage.

The jewellery set in its case.

In Mellerio’s Haute Joaillerie workshops, master artisans sketched, sculpted and set a lace of gold with a myriad of colourful stones and diamonds, culminating in a precious pineapple. This whimsical yet regal centerpiece may be worn as a pendant on the Jardin des Rêves necklace, or transformed into a pair of dazzling earrings. A signature Mellerio Cut diamond - iconic in form - connects the garden-themed necklace to its transformable jewel, adding a radiant and symbolic finishing touch.

The pineapple earrings

The Majestic Pineapple

Queen among queens, king of fruits, muse to colour itself, the pineapple becomes a playful yet majestic emblem. Who but Mellerio could so delicately - and deliciously - honour this chapter of its history ? The creation reflects the Maison’s enduring French taste and its contemporary vision: timeless jewels designed to be worn today, in the spirit of Mellerio’s beloved Jumbo Talismans.

The necklace and pendant with precious gemstones

The Necklace’s Composition

22 precious stones (total weight : 171,69 carats)
1 oval Rubellite (1,66 ct),
1 Spessartite garnet (2,97 carats),
1 oval Mint garnet (2,08 carats),
1 cushion Tanzanite (12,10 carats),
1 cushion Tanzanite (12,05 carats),
1 oval Imperial Topaze (9,58 carats),
1 oval Aquamarine (6,88 carats),
1 oval green Tourmaline (5,52 carats),
1 oval green Tourmaline (16,47 carats),
1 oval Imperial Topaze (6,10 carats),
1 oval Emerald (1,71 carat),
1 oval pink Sapphire (2,11 carats),
1 oval Sapphire (1,97 carat),
1 oval lagoon Tourmaline (5,68 carats),
1 oval Aquamarine (12,15 carats),
1 yellow Beryl (6,74 carats),
1 cushion Morganite (10,44 carats),
1 Rubellite (16,16 carats),
1 cushion Tanzanite (9,51 carats),
1 cushion Morganite (8,91 carats),
1 cushion Imperial Topaze (13,5 carats),
1 pink Tourmaline (7,33 carats).

Pineapple pendant (transformable into an earring):

Fruit:
40 precious stones: sapphires, purple, pink and yellow sapphires, tsavorite and spessartite garnets, emeralds, rubies (total: 8,11 carats), 60 diamonds (total: 0,63 carat, DEFVS+)

Leaves:
278 precious stones: sapphires, purple, pink and yellow sapphires, rubies, emeralds, tsavorite and spessartite garnets (total : 2,30 carats), 34 diamonds (total: 0,12 carat, DEFVS+)

Pineapple earring:
Fruit:
40 precious stones: sapphires, purple, pink and yellow sapphires, tsavorite and spessartite garnets, emeralds, rubies (total: 8,11 carats), 60 diamonds (total: 0,63 carat, DEFVS+)

Leaves:
278 precious stones: sapphires, purple, pink and yellow sapphires, rubies, emeralds, tsavorite and spessartite garnets (total : 2,30 carats), 34 diamonds (total: 0,12 carat, DEFVS+)

Mounting:
18K yellow gold

Price:
Approximately US$ 1 million.