YOUR ROYAL HIGHNESS
Louis Vuitton’s latest high jewellery collection, Régalia, combines the house’s legendary artistry and craftsmanship with regal panache, Cherry Lai writes
Since Louis Vuitton announced the appointment of Francesca Amfitheatrof as artistic director for jewellery and watches in April, gem connoisseurs have been on the edge of their seats waiting to see what the pioneering designer, whose CV lists some of the most esteemed luxury brands, had up her sleeve.
The wait is over—and what a debut. Régalia, the latest instalment in Louis Vuitton’s Conquêtes high jewellery series, pays homage to classic symbols of royal power—think ceremonial emblems such as coats of arms, chivalric and dynastic symbols and ornaments, laurel wreaths and fleurs-de-lys. Its 60 extraordinary pieces—it is one of the house’s largest high jewellery collections—will give the wearer a sense of sovereignty and power that, in Louis Vuitton’s words, “comes naturally to women.”
As with previous instalments in the Conquêtes series, the stars of the show are the rare and exceptional gemstones, a hallmark of Louis Vuitton high jewellery, that the house has painstakingly sourced for the collection. In Régalia, pieces are constructed around magnificently coloured central stones that stand out from the surrounding diamonds and demand one’s full attention. A 34.74-carat Paraiba tourmaline, for example, makes a stunning impression, as do a luscious raspberry-hued spinel, striking yellow and blue sapphires, an unusual 19.97-carat tsavorite with dazzling shades of mint green, and a lavender blue sapphire. They all glow with regal glamour.
Exceptional gemstones can never shine their brightest without imaginative designs, and it is here that the luxury house’s breadth of artistry comes to the fore. With influences from the art deco era, Régalia’s
design aesthetic is well-structured, sleek and geometric with an avant-garde sensibility. A design feature frequently employed by Louis Vuitton, where the central stone sits not in the centre of the piece but asymmetrically, figures prominently across the collection.
The house’s signature splendour also gets a dose of modern savoir faire, with a new graphic design unveiled in this collection that masterfully marries two of the house’s most famous motifs: the V-shaped monogram and the flower. The result is a series of original interweaving shapes resembling a quatrefoil or a coat of arms adorned with a multitude of exquisite diamonds and gems.
Its superb aesthetics combined with Louis Vuitton’s renowned craftsmanship—each piece is meticulously created at its high jewellery atelier in Paris—mean the Régalia collection is truly worthy of its noble references.
“RÉGALIA’S DESIGN AESTHETIC IS WELLSTRUCTURED, SLEEK AND GEOMETRIC WITH AN AVANT-GARDE SENSIBILITY”