Eternal Duality: Sun and Moon
Allison Quaid unveils the Soleil and Lune Rings, the first in a capsule of diamond creations evoking the eternal dialogue of Sun and Moon. The Soleil Ring radiates with cushion-cut Fancy Yellow diamonds, its golden fire recalling the Sun’s brilliance, while the Lune Ring glows with princess-cut colourless diamonds that capture the Moon’s quiet clarity. Together, they look to the French Ancien Régime for inspiration — an era when the Sun and Moon were woven into the very fabric of power, art, and ritual at Versailles.
The first pair of rings, named Soleil and Lune after the French tradition, are graduated diamond eternity bands made of cushion-cut fancy yellow diamonds (Soleil) and princess-cut colourless diamonds (Lune). Crafted in 18k gold by the hands of the House’s master goldsmiths, the rings reference the importance of the Sun and Moon during the Ancien Regime.
The Sun was the primary symbol of Louis XIV, Le Roi Soleil (The Sun King). To conclude the twelve hour long royal Ballet de La Nuit, staged at the start of his reign, Louis emerged dressed as the Sun, thereby asserting himself as the Sun King, a life-giving centre of light and power. Looking at the original costuming from the ballet, one immediately notices the articulation of the Sun’s power through the emphasis on its rays, and the alternating pattern established between the straight and wave-shaped rays emanating from his face. The rhythm of oscillation invests the headdress with animacy and life, and this was central to the design of the Soleil Ring, wherein the rich, vibrant yellow diamonds are positioned in oscillation to channel the animacy of the King’s headdress.
The Moon, and the night sky writ large, were not only a contrast against which the Sun was defined, but were themselves instrumental in the development of maritime navigation and international trade. It was through gazing at the Moon and stars that astronomy developed at Versailles, and in the night sky that the constellations of the zodiac revealed themselves. Whilst the moon and the night were inextricable from the Sun, they were not neatly intertwined at Versailles, and the gaps between lunar and solar iconography remain largely unexplored.
The Soleil and Lune rings thus embody the Sun and Moon in the reign of Louis XIV, their complementary yet unentangled relationship, and most importantly the investment of a celestial body with dynamism and geometry. The graduation of the stones is also a nod to the role of scale and its manipulation at Versailles, and under Louis XIV, the most notable example being the collapsing of the Sun’s largesse onto his person. In wearing these creations, we engage in a similar activity of manipulating scale through symbol, the fire of fancy yellow diamonds flashing our eyes with the power of the Sun and its light.
