Mariah Carey Talks Her New Chopard Collab and Butterfly’s 25th Anniversary

Given it was the singer’s first time designing high jewelry pieces (she’s had her own affordable jewelry line with HSN), Carey admits there was a learning curve in the process. “It was honor working with Chopard, and I learned so much during the creation of the pieces. It was a truly creative process,” says Carey. “It was a very non-corporate thing. They’re such a major company, but we weren’t asking anyone’s permission for what they thought was the best idea. It very off the cuff.” Below, Carey talks with Vogue more about what went into her new jewelry designs, what you could find inside her jewelry box, as well as what her career-defining album Butterfly means to her today after 25 years.

Vogue: Thanks for chatting on this gloomy, rainy day! Are you in New York?

Mariah Carey: Yes, I am. Typically I’d still be sleeping, so I just found out it’s raining. I actually love New York in the rain. I know that sounds like a lyric from a standard or something. But I do. It’s not Paris in the rain, different vibes, but I still love it.

So to start, tell me about how this collaboration with Chopard came about.

I met Caroline [Scheufele, the president of Chopard] a couple years back, and she was just the most fun, festive person ever. Then, as one does, I was celebrating Christmas well after it was over—it was well into January—and I noticed there was a gift under the tree that I hadn’t opened yet. It was from Chopard: It was a beautiful silk scarf with a butterfly pattern on it, and a handwritten note from Caroline. At that moment, I was super excited because one of my songs was about to go diamond, and I really wanted to do a collaboration with a diamond company. When this happened, I just said, ‘Let me try it and see if there’s any interest.’ This was two years ago, so I thought they would want to do some sort of Christmas thing; I was suggesting [designs of] snowflakes. But she was like, ‘No, we want les papillons—we want to do butterflies all year long!’

What are your favorite pieces from the collection you guys made together?