Chaumet’s ‘We Crown Each Other’ Reframes the Proposal for Qixi 2026

In Brief

• Chaumet’s “We Crown Each Other” is a Qixi 2026 short film in which two partners each secretly plan to propose, reimagining the traditional one-sided gesture as a simultaneous, mutual act of crowning, rooted in the Joséphine collection’s 246-year coronation heritage and starring Golden Horse Award winner Wen Qi alongside Cannes-nominated director Zhou Jinghao.
• Occasion: Qixi / Chinese Valentine’s Day, 19 August 2026.
• Jewellery: Joséphine collection — rings, bracelets, necklaces, earrings, and pendants in platinum, rose gold, and white gold, set with diamonds, aquamarines, pearls, and sapphires.
• Creative team: director Zhou Jinghao, cinematographer Chengma Zhiyuan (Only the River Flows, 2023).
• Available at Chaumet boutiques worldwide and at chaumet.com.

Heritage & Lineage

Chaumet was founded in Paris in 1780 by Marie-Étienne Nitot, who served as official jeweller to Napoleon Bonaparte and created the coronation jewels for both the Emperor and the Empress. The tiara worn by Joséphine de Beauharnais at Notre-Dame in 1804 became the founding image of what would eventually be codified as the Joséphine collection: pear-shaped silhouettes, radiating aigrette motifs, regal proportions translated into rings, bracelets, necklaces, and earrings. For 246 years, the act of crowning has remained the conceptual core of the Maison. “We Crown Each Other” does not retire that heritage — it turns it inside out.

The Joséphine collection has historically centred on the woman who wore the crown. The 2026 Qixi film shifts the frame: both people in the scene hold a ring box. Both offer a crown. The Joséphine ring, in this reading, is not a gift conferred from one party to another but an emblem of shared decision. As Dao Insights observed: “More than two hundred years on, Joséphine’s crown and bended knee have become the rings of two equals. No longer does one side kneel to the other.”

The Film’s Creative Credentials

Qixi generates dozens of luxury campaigns each August across Chinese social media, most of them product-forward and formulaic. What separates “We Crown Each Other” is the calibre of its creative team and the discipline with which they were given room to work. Chaumet assembled collaborators whose credentials come from film festivals, not marketing briefs, and the result is a short film that functions as cinema first.

Wen Qi (文淇), Chaumet’s China Brand Ambassador, won the Golden Horse Award for Best Supporting Actress at fourteen, making her one of the youngest recipients in the award’s history. Zhou Jinghao (周璟豪), the director, brings Cannes-nominated sensibility to the pacing: he “directs with patience,” allowing the central surprise — that both characters have arrived with a ring — to surface through small gestures rather than dramatic revelation. Cinematographer Chengma Zhiyuan (程马志远), whose visual precision on Only the River Flows (2023) earned widespread critical recognition, shoots the jewellery as a natural presence within each frame rather than as the subject of it. Compositions are tight, lighting naturalistic.

The Joséphine Collection in Context

The jewellery throughout the film spans the full breadth of the Joséphine line: rings, bracelets, necklaces, earrings, and pendants worked in platinum, rose gold, and white gold, set with diamonds, aquamarines, pearls, and sapphires. These are not props positioned for camera — Chengma Zhiyuan’s approach ensures they read as objects the characters actually wear and carry meaning through. For collectors in the GCC and across the region, the Joséphine collection is among the most coherent fine jewellery families available from a Paris Maison, its visual grammar legible whether encountered at a boutique in Dubai or through the Vanilla Flower High Jewellery Necklace and Tea Field High Jewellery Necklace seen in Chaumet’s broader editorial output.

Qixi and the Competitive Field

Qixi — literally “the night of sevens,” falling on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month — is rooted in the myth of Zhīnǚ and Niúláng, two celestial lovers separated by the Milky Way and reunited once a year across a bridge of magpies. For luxury Maisons operating in the Chinese market, the date carries cultural weight comparable to Western Valentine’s Day, and its association with romantic gifting makes it the natural calendar moment for jewellery campaigns. In 2026, Chaumet’s competitors include Gucci, Saint Laurent, Valentino, Balenciaga, and Loro Piana. The specificity of Chaumet’s creative ambition — a narrative that turns a traditional romantic gesture into a statement about equality, directed by a Cannes-nominated filmmaker — sets a different register entirely.

The Joséphine collection is available at chaumet.com and at Chaumet boutiques worldwide. The film is viewable on Chaumet’s official channels. For ongoing coverage of fine jewellery and luxury brand narratives from the GCC, sign up for our weekly editorial briefing.