The very essence of Louis Vuitton’s spirit is captured in the boldness, novelty and singular intensity of the fourth High Jewelry collection designed by Francesca Amfitheatrof, the Maison’s Artistic Director for Watches and Jewellery.
Spanning 125 spectacular pieces, Louis Vuitton Spirit is an initiatory jewellery odyssey, infused with the power of mythological creatures that the contemporary Louis Vuitton woman will recognize herself in. True to the Maison’s pioneering spirit, capacity for innovation and constant desire to explore new territories, the Louis Vuitton Spirit collection brings together concepts held dear by the Maison. Not only liberty, strength, and the notion of infinity, but also the ideas of destiny and of soaring to new heights.
Francesca Amfitheatrof has taken the mythology around fantastical creatures and transposed it to the 21st century, creating allegorical High Jewellery pieces infused with her highly contemporary vision of the symbols showcased in the collection.
«Like a phoenix rising from the ashes to take flight, or a dragon breathing protective fire, the Louis Vuitton woman exudes amazing strength, energy and optimism. It is that very femininity – so emancipating and emblematic of the Maison – that I wanted to embody in Spirit. To express all the vitality that drives this adventure in jewelry, triangle shapes and Vuitton Vs are omnipresent, forging a new, modern and high-impact visual language. I used this shape in many pieces, playing with triangles of different sizes,» says Francesca Amfitheatrof. «It reads as the Vuitton V and resembles an arrow, which was the earliest graphic symbol ever created by humans – pointing the direction, it constantly urges us forward.»
This provides Spirit with a graphic purity whose aesthetic force runs through every design, linking them like a precious, live energy.
Louis Vuitton combines its unique designs with extraordinary gems. It took three years to source and bring together a magnificent tsavorite weighing over 65 carats with such a selection of perfectly matched sapphires from Sri Lanka, emeralds from Colombia, rubies from Mozambique, and diamonds of flawless purity.
This astonishing collection is set in five universes, each reflective of the Maison’s values: Liberty, Grace, Fantasy, Radiance and Destiny. Louis Vuitton Spirit comprises more pieces than any High Jewellery collection in the history of Louis Vuitton, making it the Maison’s largest ever. It required over 40,000 hours of work in the Parisian ateliers, which yet again outdid themselves in their levels of mastery and technical prowess.
The freedom to explore, to discover new worlds, to express one’s innermost nature: with this constellation of 22 pieces, Louis Vuitton’s creative boldness breaks free of High Jewellery’s conventional design codes. The incredibly regal star piece is an armor-like necklace with a secret message hidden within it. Louis Vuitton created a fresh interpretation of its Damier pattern in a mosaic composition of square and triangle custom-cut diamonds, then superimposed the hinge motifs from its iconic trunks. This fully articulated matrix of rippling geometries is brought to vivid life by an outstanding selection of emeralds from Colombia – the largest of which weighs 8.90 carats – and a 2.60-carat D VVS1 diamond in the Maison’s signature Monogram Flower cut.
The crowning jewel in this necklace is an extremely rare sapphire from Sri Lanka weighing 18.08 carats and of an unparalleled royal blue. Complementing the Liberty necklace is a ring fashioned from triangle-cut diamonds around a 10.41-carat sapphire. Two additional sets of jewellery in diamond, emerald and sapphire – designed with a more minimalist aesthetic – complete the Liberty theme.
Two phoenix wings unfold around the neck as a metaphor for the Louis Vuitton woman’s capacity for renewal, soaring off to discover new lands
and reach new heights. This perfect balance between strength and grace gives rise to a stunning winged necklace. An ode to the virtuosity of the Maison’s High Jewelry ateliers, the design is formed of a double V – one V made of custom-cut baguette diamonds, the other a twisted metal torque of round diamonds that curves around the top of the neck, thanks to the consummate artistry of an articulated setting in white gold.
The curvilinear Grace necklace culminates in a breathtaking 65.26-carat tsavorite from East Africa. Forming a detachable pendant to the necklace, this perfectly crystallised gemstone radiates such a pure shade of green that it seems almost unreal. As companions to this masterpiece, which took jewelers more than 2,000 hours to craft, Louis Vuitton also created two other jewelry sets, monochromatic diamond compositions whose graceful outlines make up chokers, rings, earrings and bracelets.
In perpetual movement, the wanderlust so prized by Louis Vuitton is made manifest here in a virtuoso interlacing of yellow gold chevron motifs with diamond paved triangles and Vs in white gold. This two-tone contrast of textures plays out on a two-row necklace whose hypnotic design seems to course across the skin in a dazzling, unstoppable stream. The flawless geometry of its chevrons amplifies the Vuitton V and acts as a callback to the arrowheads that Louis Vuitton showcases in its High Jewellery collections.
Spotlighting a 2.56-carat Monogram Flower-cut diamond, this necklace can be worn in three different ways. It is paired with a spellbinding ring, whose body of gold chevrons rises to a crowning 8.73-carat round D FL diamond that seems to be gazing at the woman wearing it… The same design principle is carried over to the sautoir necklace, earrings, rings, and cuff bracelets that complete the Fantasy family.
This opulent necklace is intended to act as protection for a woman as she makes her way through life, like a second skin of gold and platinum that simultaneously speaks of the untamed, mysterious nature dormant inside each of us, and the fire and ardor that erupts from within. Every scale that makes up this piece is individually mounted, so that its masterfully concave checkerboard pattern sits perfectly on the skin.
A pyramid construction brings out the radiant gleam of each mirror-polished yellow gold section, while their collective brilliance is heightened with diamond tips. In the center of the necklace is a 10.99-carat mandarin garnet whose bright orange fire sets it ablaze.
Radiance’s raw power also infuses the matching cuff, pendant and sets of earrings. This striking family of jewellery is completed by two rings, each adorned with a mandarin garnet (weighing 14.73 carats and 18.72 carats respectively).
This strikingly architectural jewellery set magnifies the power of Louis Vuitton’s legacy, revealing the fullness of its spirit through a repeating pattern of triangular shapes and the ever-present letter V. Destiny’s ultra-graphic necklace construction plays on solids and voids, teaming diamond-encrusted triangles with Monogram Flower-cut diamonds, while the whole piece is brought to life by a number of fiery rubies from Mozambique. Preeminent among these is a ruby weighing over 10 carats and displaying an emerald cut, which is extremely rare for this stone. Its characteristic red is totally pure, both bright and intense at once. As it is detachable, this ruby can also be worn on the specially designed accompanying solitaire ring, which comes with a detachable diamond that also hangs from the necklace.
Alongside this outstanding central piece, Louis Vuitton has crafted other jewels in the realm of Destiny – an additional three-row diamond and ruby necklace, a variety of earrings, rings and bracelets, as well as a brooch. The constellation also includes a matching set of jewellery in monochrome diamonds, where triangular shapes give rise to pieces of consummate elegance such as a solitaire ring set with a 10.88-carat emerald-cut D FL diamond.
LoL, Sandra
Photos: © Louis Vuitton
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