A pair of floral earrings from Chopard’s “Insofu” collection in 18-carat white gold, platinum and titanium set with two emeralds totaling 11 carats, pear-shaped emeralds totaling 3.5 carats, and brilliant-cut diamonds.
New York—Chopard has unveiled a new high jewelry collection featuring the emeralds cut from “Insofu,” the 6,225-carat rough emerald Gemfields recovered from the Kagem mine in Zambia in 2010.
The 15-piece collection, also called “Insofu,” comprises five pairs of earrings, four necklaces, three rings, a bracelet and an emerald-set watch.
“Insofu” means “elephant” in the local Bemba language, a nod to the rough stone’s trunk-like shape and unprecedented size.
At the heart of the collection is an elephant-shaped pendant featuring emeralds of various shapes and sizes, framed by diamonds that form the animal’s tusks.
Its trunk is curled upward, a gesture Chopard said is symbolic of prosperity and good fortune.
A pendant shaped like an elephant set with 24.97 carats of pear-shaped emeralds and 21.75 carats of oval-shaped emeralds, accented with brilliant-cut emeralds and diamonds
The collection draws influences from the organic and fluid lines of nature, abstract forms, and Art Deco elegance.
Its unifying element, Chopard said, is in its embodiment of joie de vivre (exuberant enjoyment of life), a concept portrayed in Francis Scott Fitzgerald’s “The Great Gatsby,” set in the Jazz Age on Long Island, New York.
The extravagance of the era depicted in the famous 1925 novel inspired the collection’s ensemble of four necklaces, pictured below as a full set.
A sketch of the set of four necklaces in “Insofu” inspired by the Art Deco period and the novel “The Great Gatsby”
The shortest necklace in the set, a diamond choker, is set with a 2.50-carat square-cut emerald.
The choker is complemented by a second necklace featuring pink sapphires and a 15.53-carat octagon-cut emerald, and a third necklace of alternating emeralds, pearls, and diamonds.
A pink pearl sautoir, which Chopard said it added to bring softness and balance out the bolder pieces, completes the set.
The “Insofu” collection also features a statement cuff, cocktail rings, earrings, long flowing necklaces and chokers evocative of the vibe of the Roaring Twenties.
A set of two necklaces, both in 18-carat white gold. The first is set with a 6.61-carat emerald and mixed- shape diamonds, and the second is a tie necklace featuring three emeralds totaling 10.86 carats, with pear-shaped, oval-shaped, marquise-cut and brilliant-cut diamonds totaling nearly 23 carats.
A ring in 18-karat white gold and platinum set with an 11.43-carat emerald accented by emerald- and diamond-set leaves
A cuff composed of 10 strands of pearls featuring a vertical motif of emerald-studded foliage accented with brilliant-cut Paraíba tourmalines and diamonds
“In every stone lies a story, and my role is to listen and honor the natural magic they carry as treasures from the Earth,” Chopard’s Co-President and Artistic Director Caroline Scheufele said.
“With the ‘Insofu’ collection, it was about respecting this inherent beauty. I chose the finest quality stones from the heart of the emerald, pairing them with diamonds, pink sapphires, and pearls.”
The model at left is wearing the “Insofu” elephant pendant, along with a heart-shaped ring and a pair of earrings from the collection paired with a “Caroline’s Couture” black silk organza dress. The model at right is wearing the collection’s pearl cuff bracelet and a pair of floral-inspired earrings paired with a silk gauze dress the brand said was shade-printed to incorporate the hues of the “Insofu” emerald and a touch of rose, a nod to the four-necklace set featuring emeralds paired with pink sapphires.
Scheufele accompanied the “Insofu” collection with five gowns from “Caroline’s Couture,” her collection of dresses designed to bring fashion and jewelry together in harmony.
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Chopard acquired the rough emerald a few years ago, with Scheufele unveiling it in Paris in 2022.
When working with rough diamonds, scientific tools can be used to precisely determine a rough stone’s yield. Cutting emeralds, however, is about finding and revealing their inherent beauty and brilliance, an undertaking that requires expertise, as the gemstone is delicate and prone to fractures, Chopard said.
The brand brought skilled gem-cutters from India to its Geneva workshops to study the gemstone and propose cuts, a process that took nearly a year.
Following a year of careful planning, the 6,225-carat “Insofu” yielded 850 carats of emeralds.
The “Insofu” resulted in 850 carats of polished emeralds, a yield of about 14 percent.
To showcase the first gems cut from the “Insofu” rough, Chopard collaborated with actress Julia Roberts on a capsule collection that debuted last year.
This is the second time Chopard has opted to develop an entire collection from a single rough gemstone.
The first was the “Garden of Kalahari” collection, born from a 342-carat rough diamond in 2017.
The brand said working with the “Insofu” rough represented a guarantee of traceability and an opportunity to collaborate more closely with those at the beginning of the supply chain.
Chopard employed Provenance Proof’s “Emerald Paternity Test,” developed by Gübelin Gem Lab, to ensure every emerald cut from the “Insofu” is traceable back to its origin.
The technology, launched in 2017, involves injecting DNA-based nanoparticles into the rough stone’s natural fissures, which stay intact through cutting and polishing, leaving a permanent marking on every gemstone that makes it identifiable, and traceable, for life.
“Traceability is more than a technical advancement; it is an ethical achievement,” Scheufele said. “The ‘Insofu’ collection reflects our belief that true beauty results from a genuine commitment to society and ethical practices.”
Chopard Co-President and Artistic Director Caroline Scheufele (fourth from left) at the Insofu collection reveal
Part of the profits from each “Insofu” collection piece sold will be donated to support Elephant Family, a nonprofit that partners with conservation experts to protect Asian wildlife and the indigenous communities that live among them to mitigate human-elephant conflict, safeguard migratory corridors, and build a landscape that supports human-wildlife coexistence.
“The final reveal of the ‘Insofu’ collection is a moment I have long awaited, one that could only be realized by aligning it with a meaningful cause to protect wildlife and nature—passions that have been close to my heart for many years,” Scheufele said.
“I am deeply grateful to everyone involved, from the miners and stone cutters to our jewelry artisans, who contributed to shaping the extraordinary destiny of this unique gem. I also extend my heartfelt thanks to the Elephant Family for this collaboration, which I hope will help shed light on the vital importance of conservation.”
