Cannes glitters for real with diamonds

Yellow, white, pink, orange, brown and even black. This 58th international film fest at Cannes is awash with multi-coloured diamonds, underlining the return to glamour and glitz after the more streetwise look of the past few years.

Dark-haired Mexican beauty and jury member, Salma Hayek, French screen icon Catherine Deneuve and Canadian actress Rachel Blanchard are amongst the many stars who are choosing rainbows of fancy coloured diamonds to set-off their designer evening gowns at the 12-day annual French Riviera film extravaganza that kicked off last Wednesday.

The latest trend is for "very fine and feminine jewellery," Muriel Grehan, spokeswoman for the festival's official partner Chopard, told AFP.

Famed for its high-class watches and spectacular jewellery, Chopard has brought a staggering 400 top-of-the range sets to Cannes. Grehan declined to reveal the total value of the gems, which are guarded around the clock in one of the palatial seafront hotels by a reportedly 30-strong security force.

But the jewels must be worth a king's ransom as they include such pieces as a 17-carat chocolate brown heart-shaped diamond pendent worn by super-model Eva Herzigova and the whopping 74-carat white and fancy yellow diamond cuff that graced Deneuve's wrist.

Pendant drop earrings would appear to be the newest must-have fashion accessory. Just about every celebrity stepping up the fabled Cannes red carpet, both newcomers and established stars sporting cascading earrings.

Yellow gold is also making a comeback whilst vintage jewels and fun pieces such as a waterfall of ball-shaped stones are particularly popular at the moment, according to Cartier's Paolina Raja Ofera.

"Vintage is the new big look," stressed Raja Ofera, who heads up Cartier's store here in Cannes.

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