CANNES, France (AFP) - German actress Diane Kruger, Malay actress Michelle
Yeoh, Cannes jury member Maggie Cheung, superstars Eva Herzigova and Angelina
Jolie and Australia's Toni Colette are just some of the stars sporting this
year's favourite diamond drop earrings and cuff bracelets at the festival.

Michelle Yeoh
© AFP/Photo Francois Guillot
But Swiss jeweller Chopard favours colour for stars walking the red carpet.
"There is lots of colour," Chopard co-president Caroline
Gruosi-Scheufele told AFP.
The luxury company, which designed the coveted Palme d'Or prize to be awarded
Sunday, has brought more than 500 sets of gems to Cannes, including a special
60th birthday "red carpet" collection marking its 10 years as official
partner of the fest.
Gruosi-Scheufele declined to reveal how much the jewels in Cannes were worth
but said the value of the gems, guarded around the clock in one of the famous
sea-front hotels, "has lots of zeros."

Angelina Jolie
© AFP/File Valery Hache
The pieces are "all totally completely different because all the women
in the world are different," said Gruosi-Scheufele, who helped design the
Palme d'Or.
These include a 44-carat emerald cabochon pendant necklace with a 37-carat
cabochon centre surrounded by black diamonds worn by Colette, who is on the
Palme d'Or jury.
A-list celebs choose which precious piece to wear at the screenings and
star-studded parties that are Cannes' trademark. But occasionally this can end
in tension when two stars want the same jewel, Gruosi-Scheufele revealed.
French jewellery house Van Cleef and Arpels said stars this year were opting
for long pendant earrings and bracelets.
"They look great with glamorous plunging necklines and loose hair,"
said the firm's Charlotte Gounant.
On the nightly evening-wear clambering up the red carpet, most of the top
jewels flaunted are pure-white diamonds.
"This year's overwhelming favourite is white diamonds - mostly set in
white gold," said Caroline Deby of the world's leading diamond house, De
Beers.
Maggie Cheung
© AFP/File Francois Guillot
Kruger and Jolie are two of many stars who went for fine waterfall diamond
earrings, and industry watchers said most favoured a simple look.
One reason was that haute couture gowns worn for black tie film screenings
are more colourful than in 2006 and often feature sequins or embroidery.
If stars add on too much jewellery "they end up looking like a Christmas
tree," said one Cannes veteran from a renowned Paris-based house.
"The trend in Cannes reflects the overall preference worldwide for white
stones, and for solitaires in particular," said Deby of De Beers.
The company has organised a treasure hunt for the anniversary filmfest, with
the prize -- a one-carat diamond.
©AFP
the
cannes_2007_awards
Cristian Mungui is given the festival's top award, the Palme
d'Or for his winning Romanian film by Jane Fonda - who herself picked up a
lifetime achievement honour
Photo: © Getty Images