Dressed to empress: the Joséphine influence

If, as Ridley Scott’s historical epic shows, Napoleon Bonaparte and Joséphine de Beauharnais were once the world’s unassailable power couple, then the beguiling and ruinously extravagant Empress Joséphine was surely an early – or perhaps the original – style influencer. Encouraged by Napoleon, who understood the political, propagandist power of imperial splendour, she patronised and nurtured the Parisian luxury trade, feeding her insatiable appetite for elaborate, diaphanous dresses, outré accessories and sumptuous jewels.

It was not only the luxuries themselves but the innate style with which Joséphine wore them that turned her into a muse. She set a new standard for neoclassical costume with a wayward, fashion-forward take on courtly grandeur, and veered away from traditional all-diamond regal ornaments, instead favouring coloured gems or classical cameos, fringed or festooned necklaces, jewelled belts and hair ornaments.

At Malmaison, Joséphine indulged her obsession with rare plants, exotic animals and birds

Joséphine’s edgy blend of antiquity and modernity have especially influenced the jewellery style of the Place Vendôme. In particular, the Parisian maison Chaumet has been shaped by Joséphine’s story; the house was originally commissioned to make jewels for Napoleon’s coronation in 1804, after which Joséphine became a client (followed later by Napoleon’s second wife, Marie-Louise). Chaumet builds on this heritage with the Ever More Joséphine fine-jewellery collection – a day-to-night line of stackable rings, chunky necklaces and graphic bangles that bring a youth-filled edginess to the Empress’s influence. “Joséphine is no longer just about the ring, the tiara on the finger,” says Chaumet CEO Jean-Marc Mansvelt. “It’s a wardrobe idea, an echo of the empress who changed on average three times a day, who paid great attention to coordinating her jewellery and her outfit with the salon in which she was going to appear.”

Bulgari pink-gold, diamond and malachite Divas’ Dream necklace, £3,630

Garrard white-gold, diamond and malachite Wings Rising earrings, £25,000 

Graff white-gold, diamond and Sri Lanka sapphire bangle, POA

Moussaieff white- and pink-diamond, emerald tiara, POA

The maison’s whimsical, transformable High Jewellery Un Air de Chaumet, launched in January, also channels Joséphine’s spirit of irreverence, referencing her love of nature: after her divorce from Napoleon in 1810, she retired to Malmaison, a château outside Paris, where she indulged her obsession with rare species of plants, exotic animals and birds, many imported specially for her, including parrots and black swans from Australia. Chaumet’s four-part series includes ear cuffs of feather-engraved rose-gold and diamonds, a hair ornament inspired by a swoop of soaring swallows, and a Disney princess-style tiara that converts into brooches. 

The same naturalistic influence can be seen in Boucheron’s peacock feather, for instance, which now comes in titanium and intensely coloured gems. Or in Mellerio’s Pierreries rivière necklaces, with their air of French nobility, in a choice of amethyst, prasiolite, citrines or rutilated quartz, or the precious cameos in the French jeweller’s Cabinet de Curiosités collection.

The Joséphine effect reverberates beyond Paris too: Garrard’s Wings Rising collection mimics abstract and linear feathers to convey power, with diamonds tipped with faceted rectangular hardstones, lapis lazuli, malachite (a Joséphine favourite), golden mother-of-pearl or even meteorite. The collection, says creative director Sara Prentice, has “shed its angelic aura” to represent the strength and confidence of today’s woman. There’s more malachite in Bulgari’s Diva’s Dream pendants, and also a hint of antiquity, the neo-classicism that was an essential element of Joséphine’s imperial style, just as Napoleon modelled himself on the emperors of Ancient Rome.

There are echoes, too, of Joséphine in the current trend for large, single-coloured gems, as in Boodles’ Florentine Dolce Vita rings, each centred on a vibrant stone, such as pink tourmaline, emerald or aquamarine. Or in Graff’s immense 118.17-carat Sri Lanka sapphire, at the centre of a new diamond cuff bracelet. Alisa Moussaieff says she has noticed a rise in demand for coloured gemstone suites, especially blue or coloured sapphires and Colombian emeralds. For her own Moussaieff collections, the jeweller has paired coloured stones with diamonds, as in a lacy openwork choker, or a garlanded tiara of pink and white diamonds with dangling Colombian emerald drops and matching earrings.

Jessica McCormack yellow- and white-gold and diamond Signature Heart Diamond Button Back Toi Et Moi ring, £30,000

Cassandra Goad platinum, diamond and sapphire Toi Et Moi ring, £13,950

The romantic Toi Et Moi ring that has seen a resurgence in popularity today has its origins in the engagement ring given by Napoleon – at the time an up-and-coming general – to Joséphine de Beauharnais, with whom he had fallen madly in love, in 1796. The ring was set with a diamond and sapphire, both pear-shaped, nestling close to each other. The pear or drop shape, synonymous with Joséphine, is embraced in Boodles’ pink- and light-blue-diamond Gemini Toi Et Moi ring, while Jessica McCormack’s version, set in an antique manner, employs a heart-shaped diamond. Designer-jeweller Cassandra Goad, who visited French châteaux as in-depth research for her latest La Belle France collection, juxtaposes a pear-shaped diamond with a square-cut blue sapphire, adding baguette diamonds and sapphires inset into the band. 

As Mansvelt says: “We think it’s important that Joséphine’s style should be possible, instead of her being an inaccessible, untouchable, unaffordable icon. We are convinced that the future of jewellery lies in iconic, symbolic and meaningful pieces that also appeal to a younger clientele, which is essential for tomorrow.” Further evidence that Joséphine’s innovative flair continues to influence – from the French court to today’s maisons.