Palme d’Or 2022
Courtesy of Chopard
The Cannes Film Festival is getting a special gift from Chopard to celebrate its 75th edition — a redesigned Palme d’Or.
The luxury Swiss jeweler — a longtime supporter that toasts its own milestone 25th anniversary partnership with the festival — has prepared a custom, ethically-made Palme d’Or that features double diamond-set leaves on a rose quartz base. The award, given out during the closing ceremony, is the highest honor presented during Cannes as it honors the best picture as selected by the jury.
Chopard’s artistic director and co-president Caroline Scheufele opted to revisit designs for the Palme d’Or to mark the occassion and in doing so, studded two leaves with diamonds from suppliers certified by the Responsible Jewellery Council. One leaf is adorned with 75 diamonds and the other, 25, to honor anniversaries for the fest and for Chopard’s involvement in the celebration of cinema, respectively.
The rose quartz base, replacing a traditional rock crystal cushion, is significant in that, per Greek mythology, the powdery pink, delicately veined gemstone is said to have been created by Aphrodite, goddess of beauty and love. Per Chopard, rose quartz was selected as it serves as a symbol of “the unconditional love binding the festival with cinema.” As such, the house’s Cannes theme this year is “Chopard Loves Cinema.”
In announcing the newly-designed Palme d’Or, Chopard released some fast facts about the process including the number of tiny leaves fixed on the Palme d’Or (19), the number of artisans in Chopard’s Haute Jaoillerie workshop devoted to crafting the piece (6), the hours they spent (70), and the weight of Fairmined-certified ethical 18-carat gold used to make it (118 grams).
The news comes after a historic year in 2021 when French filmmaker Julia Ducournau took home the top prize for Titane, marking the first time it had been awarded to a female director since Chopard has been creating the prize as part of its 25-year partnership. The other trophies handed out during closing night including best actress, best actor, Grand Prix, best director, screenplay award, jury prize, short film Palme d’or and Caméra d’or, all of which are crafted in Chopard’s Haute Joaillerie workshops in Geneva.