The Palme d'Or is one of the most coveted prizes in world cinema. Since 1998, each trophy has been made by Chopard. Few partnerships in the cultural world are as entwined as Chopard and the Cannes Film Festival, founded on a shared belief in craft and the art of cinema.
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Here’s how that partnership came to life across the 79th Cannes Film Festival.
Celebrating the Stars of Tomorrow
Of all Chopard's commitments to Cannes, none speaks more directly to its belief in the future of cinema than the Trophée Chopard, an award dedicated entirely to nurturing emerging film talent.
Created by Caroline Scheufele, Chopard’s Co-President and Artistic Director, since 2001 it has become one of cinema's most prestigious prizes, its past recipients include Marion Cotillard, Adèle Exarchopoulos, Jessie Buckley, Kingsley Ben-Adir, and Mike Faist.
The 2026 edition was presented on the 15th May at an official Festival dinner on Carlton Beach, with Isabelle Huppert as Godmother, an honorary role given each year to a distinguished figure from the world of cinema. A two-time Best Actress winner at Cannes, César, Golden Globe and BAFTA laureate, Huppert embodies precisely the kind of fearless, uncompromising artistry the Trophée Chopard exists to champion.
"Isabelle Huppert has been a longtime friend of the Maison, and our bond is rooted in a deep artistic affinity," said Caroline Scheufele. "Her role as Godmother felt entirely natural to me, as we share the same belief in transmission, mentorship and the importance of championing emerging talent."
This year's recipients were American actress Odessa A'zion and British actor Connor Swindells.
A'zion recently starred in Marty Supreme opposite Timothée Chalamet, a performance that earned her a BAFTA nomination and announced her as a significant new presence in international cinema.
Swindells, who rose to international prominence as Adam Groff across all five seasons of Sex Education, has since built a diverse filmography that spans Greta Gerwig's Barbie to Steven Knight's SAS Rogue Heroes.
"The Trophée Chopard means a great deal to me," said Swindells. "To receive it at the Cannes Film Festival, a place where cinema is so deeply celebrated, makes it feel even more special."
Isabelle Huppert reflected on the spirit of the award: "This prize honours that fragile, exhilarating moment when a career is still being shaped, a time of intuition, courage and freedom. Supporting emerging actors means supporting the future of cinema itself."
The Trophee Chopard is not the only trophy Chopard crafts for the Festival, the Palme d'Or is the symbol that, more than anything else, defines Cannes.
The Palme d’Or: The Trophy That Defines a Festival
When Caroline Scheufele reimagined the Palme d’Or design in 1998, she placed Chopard at the very heart of the Festival, and every Palme d'Or on every winner's mantelpiece since.
Each trophy requires more than 70 hours of artisanal work, including wax casting, precision gold melting and meticulous hand-polishing. Since 2014, every Palme d'Or has been crafted in certified 100% ethical gold, in keeping with Chopard's broader commitment to sustainable luxury.
"The Palme d'Or is more than a trophy: it is a declaration of love for cinema," said Caroline Scheufele. "Each leaflet, each glimmer of crystal carries within it the universal dream of storytelling that resonates across the world."
The trophy has honoured some of the greatest filmmakers of the modern era including Francis Ford Coppola, Jane Campion, Ken Loach, Bong Joon-ho, and most recently Justine Triet.
This year, under the presidency of Park Chan-wook, the Cannes Film Festival Jury will decide the winner of the Palme d’Or. A moment, as ever, where cinematic art and the beauty of exceptional jewellery meet.
Miracles: 79 Creations for the 79th Edition
Each year, the Festival provides Chopard with a natural stage for its Red Carpet Collection, an annual Haute Joaillerie showcase tied directly to the Festival's edition number. This year, 79 exceptional creations were unveiled under the theme Miracles, inspired by the extraordinary moments and wonders of everyday life.
"Miracles are often modest: they are born of a detail, a light, an unexpected emotion," said Caroline Scheufele. "This collection is an invitation to look at them differently."
The responses were spectacular.
The collection includes a necklace centred on an 88-carat Royal Blue sapphire, its depth extending outward through cascading sapphires, aquamarines and diamonds.
Among the brooches, a phoenix in ethical rose gold and titanium blazes with emeralds, tanzanites and multicoloured sapphires, its plumage caught mid-flight, while a carp traces the grace of water through sapphires and diamonds.
One of the collection's most intimate pieces is a secret watch in the form of a butterfly alighting on a flower, set in ethical white gold and titanium with diamonds and yellow, pink and orange sapphires, its wing closing gently to conceal the dial and accompanied by a matching broach.
Each creation emerges from Chopard's Geneva ateliers through months of work. No two pieces are alike, and none are repeated.
A Relationship the Red Carpet Keeps Renewing
Across trophies, emerging talent, Haute Joaillerie, and Gala Evenings, Chopard has built something at Cannes that no amount of sponsorship alone could explain, a presence so woven into the Festival's fabric that the two have become genuinely difficult to imagine apart.
The 79th edition of the festival was further proof, if any were needed, that what started as a partnership has become, over nearly three decades, something closer to a shared identity.