By Milena Lazazzera, CNN

(CNN) — In May, a model dressed in a mustard-colored gown with blooming details sashayed through the lavish garden of Christian Dior’s beloved estate, Château de La Colle Noire. Her look was accessorized with a cylindrical pendant bursting with gem-set enameled flower dangling from an opulent chain. The adornment, created by Dior Joaillerie’s creative director Victoire de Castellane, was dazzling. Hold it in your hand, part it with a click, and voilà, a hidden compartment holding a lipstick is unveiled.

The one-of-a-kind item is an unexpected collaboration between de Castellane and the brand’s creative and image director for makeup, Peter Philips. In a statement, Dior explained that the hybrid product fused “the obvious connections between jewelry and beauty.”

Dior is not alone in experimenting with cross-category projects, and those between jewelry and beauty are having a moment. Earlier this year, American jeweler Suzanne Kalan collaborated with skincare brand Natura Bissé on a facial treatment that incorporated Kalan’s signature rose-cut diamonds (they were applied to chakra points in the face and neck during the treatment). Priced at £600 (about $796), it was only available at London’s Dorchester Hotel. “Diamonds help reduce stress and anxiety,” said Kalan, who is planning to make the treatment available at other spas.

Paul Russell, a consumer psychologist and founder of Luxury Academy, a London-based firm providing specialist soft skills training in luxury, can see the appeal of the novel experience. No longer are diamonds merely decorative, he told CNN. “They are doing something, they are part of a process, they become experiential.” That can be attractive to high-net-worth individuals, several of whom are notably shifting their spending towards unique experiences, including wellness-focused activities.

One-of-a-kind collectibles

Perhaps the most fertile ground for projects merging beauty and jewelry is in high perfumery, as fragrance bottles can double as objets d’art.

In 2023, Guerlain partnered with fellow LVMH-owned brand Chaumet on a made-to-order fragrance, which came in a reimagined version of its signature Bee bottle — adorned with 336 diamonds totaling 55 carats, it cost a whopping $1 million. Conceived as a tribute to “Eau de Cologne Impériale,” a scent famously worn by Empress Eugénie at her wedding to Napoleon III, the Guerlain x Chaumet creation also included a stopper that transformed into a ring.

Since 2021, Bulgari has made high perfumery an integral part of its high jewelry collections. Recent fragrance releases have come in hand-blown Murano glass bottles, etched with gem-set serpent motifs — a nod to the house’s longstanding “Serpenti” motif — and priced upwards of $200,000. “We recognized the demand for such exclusive creations and made high-end perfumery a strategic focus,” said Bulgari’s deputy CEO Laura Burdese.

Richemont-owned watchmaker Jaeger-LeCoultre has also ventured into scent. Through its “Made of Makers” program, which offers a platform for artisans outside of traditional watchmaking to showcase their work, the Swiss company released a trio of fragrances in collaboration with renowned perfumer Nicolas Bonneville. These limited-edition scents are not sold in stores but are offered to customers as exclusive gifts accompanying high-value purchases.

Meanwhile, the independent Dutch jeweler Bibi van der Velden has recently partnered with Lyn Harris, the founder of hit fragrance labels Miller Harris and Perfumer H, and Aristide Najean, a painter and sculptor known for his contemporary glass works, to create a vase that holds scented candles — a collectible item that’s part sculpture, part scent diffuser.

Why brands do it

Beauty accessories were once, in fact, a natural extension of a jeweler’s offering. Van Cleef & Arpels’ “Minaudière,” a bejeweled clutch introduced in the 1930s, was designed to function as a luxury cosmetic case, complete with compartments for lipstick, powder, and perfume. Similarly, perfume bottles crafted by porcelain specialists, such as Meissen, Capodimonte, Chelsea, and St. James, were designed not to be hidden away in bathrooms, but as decorative objects meant to be displayed in living rooms.

But, as beauty increasingly became a mass market category, and a growing number of brands sought to offer affordable products to more shoppers, the packaging became less elaborate. That’s now changing, and some premium brands, looking to enhance the perceived value of their beauty products, are prioritizing premium materials, sophisticated finishes, and unique design elements.

Pierre Dupreelle, the managing director and a luxury expert at Boston Consulting Group, sees unique synergies between jewelry and beauty. “For beauty brands, borrowing from the codes of fine jewelry helps elevate perception and move into the ultra-luxury space. For jewelers, these partnerships provide access to new audiences and new occasions,” he said, pointing to Guerlain’s Rouge G lipsticks (which comes in a stylish, refillable case, complete with a discrete mirror) as “a perfect example” of a beauty product turned into “a collectible.”

It is significant that these creative crossovers are emerging from the categories that have shown the greatest resilience amid the luxury slowdown. According to Bain & Company, the global luxury market experienced a decline of 1% to 3% at current exchange rates last year, but beauty and jewelry still managed to grow. Those categories are also projected by Bain to remain among the most stable, despite that the luxury sector is expected to contract further this year.

“While broader discretionary spending has softened, fine jewelry and prestige beauty have outperformed due to emotional relevance, gifting appeal, and perceived value,” observed Bain & Company’s senior partner Federica Levato. She added that while beauty brands can benefit from the “lipstick effect” (affordable luxuries that shoppers spend on when they can’t afford big purchases), jewelry retains its allure as a store of value. “Together, they form a potent combination: aesthetic pleasure meets emotional security,” said Levato.

“People don’t want categories anymore, they want moments,” added Russell. “They want objects that feel personal, clever, even a little absurd. A lipstick in a necklace doesn’t make sense if you think about it too long, which is exactly why it works. It’s not supposed to be practical. It’s supposed to feel intimate, and unnecessary, and that’s where the luxury is.”

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