With a Gourmet Gazette Slide Show at the End of the Story

The most glamorous moment at the most glamorous film festival in the world, the Cannes Film Festival, is when the Palme d’or or Golden Palm trophy is awarded to the best film in competition. Regarded as the Holy Grail of the Seventh Art, the Palme d’or has been crafted by the Swiss luxury house of Chopard, a long standing partner of the Festival, since 1998. The motif of the trophy represents the palm trees lining the famous Croisette in Cannes and an element of the city’s coat of arms.

It all began back in 1997 when Caroline Scheufele, the co-president and artistic director of Chopard and an avid film fan suggested re-designing the Palme d’or during a meeting with Pierre Viot, who was at the time the President of the Cannes Film Festival. She imagined a heart at the base of the Palme d’or branch, The next year a new lease on life was given to the prestigious trophy, a veritable hand-sculpted jewel of 19 yellow gold leaves resting on a unique cushion of rock crystal shaped like an emerald-cut diamond. The Palme d’or requires no less than 40 hours of hand crafting from five of the house’s specialized artisans.

The Palme, as it is often affectionally called, is also an example of the house’s commitment to sustainable luxury for since 2014, it has been crafted with 118 grams of ethical Fairminded-certified 18-carat yellow gold. In addition to the Palme d’or for best film, the house’s Haute Joaillerie or High Jewelry workshops in Geneva, craft all of the trophies, in rock crystal engraved with a palm, that are awarded to the other winners at the celebrated closing ceremony.
©Trish Valicenti for The Gourmet Gazette
https://www.chopard.com/intl/

Slide Show