Exquisite, elusive, opulent—a garden of opal flowers has blossomed at Chopard, just in time for Haute Couture Week.

Haute joaillerie (high jewellery) is the sister of haute couture and as such, receives her audience in tightly secured salons and hotels across Paris during Haute Couture Week. You can imagine the whispered conversations, the perfumes mingling and that the catalogues would be closely examined at these privileged viewings.

As you can see here with Chopard‘s ‘Fluer d’Opales’ ring, some say joaillerie is the more brilliant sister. Brilliant (бриллиант) is also how you say diamond in Russian, while in French brillant means both intelligent and sparkling. Maybe that’s why the word ‘brilliant’ is so often overheard in the presence of these gems.

This sister doesn’t mince words either, that’s for certain. This is not mass market, mass consumption or mass appeal— she’s the reserve of royals and oligarchs, or perhaps a loan that comes with a security detail for a rising startlet or Oscar hopeful who graces the red carpet.

This third and final among the Fleur d’Opales rings features a hero opal, carefully selected from Lightning Ridge in our very own Australian backyard. The 9-carat black gem is surrounded by pistils in engraved and brushed blue titanium. The large petals set with diamonds, pink sapphires and spinels are mounted on a ring set with demantoid garnets.

Tres brillant.