Lydia Courteille’s Latest Collection Is an Arctic Blast

By Amy Elliott | January 29, 2026

As many in the Northeast are still navigating the aftereffects of last weekend’s headline-making blizzard, the French jewelry designer Lydia Courteille’s newest collection seems particularly well-timed. Debuting earlier this week in Paris, the pieces are intended to transport Courteille’s many devotees to a glistening ice-covered wilderness, one that is (happily) lightyears away from slush-covered city sidewalks.

That the collection is titled White Paradise may appear to support the Pantone choice for 2026’s Color of the Year, but these jewels were conceived well before Cloud Dancer white rose to prominence. They are also far more evocative in texture and hue, effectively creating a hyper-whimsical wonderland of diamonds, moonstones, shimmering opals, and at least one crystalline intaglio.

As is typical of Courteille’s collections, the storytelling element here is robust and richly imagined. Five chapters offer an “invitation to travel into a poetic world, unexplored, colored by legends, where precious creatures evolve with wild animals,” according to a press release.

The inspiration for White Paradise came to Courteille abruptly, according to her official announcement of the collection. “During a trip to Tucson, I acquired a set of dendritic white opals. These stones immediately sparked in me the desire to create a diamond collection,” she said.

“The images then multiplied, and I needed to organize them. While observing the stones, several visions emerged, giving rise to many themes: the landscapes of the Far North, Indigenous art, Arctic fauna and flora, and later, the exploration of Nordic Viking legends.”

Lydia Courteille White Paradise — *The Norse goddess Freya as imagined by jewelry designer Lydia Courteille and captured by Lithuanian digital artist Nathalie Shau*

Freya, the Norse goddess of fertility and eroticism—who is also associated with death, war, magic, prophecy, and wealth—serves as the jeweled narrative’s figurehead and helps to ground the collection in the magic, mysticism and sensuality of Norse mythology.

That mythology also inspired the popular HBO series Game of Thrones. “I eagerly drew from this world of dragons, White Walkers, magical swords, and capricious gods,” Courteille noted.

The necklace below features one of the dendritic opals that sent Courteille on this Arctic adventure. It’s part of a grouping of jewels that incorporate snowflake motifs detailed with moonstone baguettes, to evoke the colorful spectacle of the Northern Lights.

LydiaCourteilledendriticopalnecklace — *White Paradise dendritic opal necklace in 18k gold with white topaz, moonstones, and diamonds (price on request)*

Of White Paradise’s Flora and Fauna chapter, which includes the ring at top, Courteille said, “These pieces depict animals that take on the color of snow for camouflage and that inhabit the Arctic seas at different seasons.”

As for the collection’s Singing Winter chapter, its hero piece is a ring that centers a sizable, shimmering opal. The stone reminded Courteille of “Je Reviendrai à Montréal,” a 1970s-era song by the Quebecois recording artist Robert Charlebois. It includes a lyric, Courteille explained in the collection notes, that mentions the Northern Lights “making blue roses and golden roses snow over the winter.”

LydiaCourteilleSingingWaterring — *White Paradise ring in 18k gold with opal, diamonds, and blue and yellow sapphires (price on request)*

Courteille also eagerly studied Indigenous art, symbols, and artifacts to create a chapter in the collection that highlights apatite-eyed totem figures (as in the cuff below and a pair of earrings). There is also a locket that encloses the depiction of a bear shaman summoning stars.