Sunlight. So primal, powerful and the catalyst for which we view things of beauty. It’s the inspiration behind First Light, the new collection of high jewellery by the French maison Fred. The collection follows the earlier Inner Light and Ideal Light collections, rounding out a light-themed triptych.
In this new expression, a chapter titled Soleil d’Or Sunrise traces the story of one of the maison’s most cherished heritage gems—the over-a-hundred-carat Soleil d’Or yellow diamond first encountered in 1977 and reacquired by Fred in 2021—and turns it into modern high jewellery meant to be worn every day.
At the heart of this solar story (Soleil d’Or translates to golden sunlight) is a necklace in white gold with draped lines of diamonds that evoke the rays of a sun. Intense yet diffused through clouds, Fred evinced the sun’s luminosity through a beguiling mix of yellow and white diamonds.
A twist of savoir-faire: the jeweller has inverted the traditional method of setting diamonds on matching colours of gold. Instead, white diamonds are claw-set on yellow gold, and yellow diamonds are grainset on white gold so that this two-tone palette blends exceptionally beautifully. At its heart, naturally, is a two-carat yellow diamond that pays tribute to its eponymous gem.
Vogue Singapore’s July/August 2025 ‘Home’ is out on newsstands online.
