Francesca Amfitheatrof presents Louis Vuitton Spirit Part II in Paris

By Ian Thorley

Named Spirit, this was Francesca Amfitheatrof‘s fourth high jewellery collection for Louis Vuitton. Amfitheatrof, who was appointed the house’s artistic director of watches and jewellery in 2018, has always believed that jewellery and its wearer are inextricably linked: “I don’t think anything else in the world has the power to hold the spirit of the person so much as jewellery does,” she said.

Originally, Amfitheatrof was inspired by fantasy creatures including dragons and phoenixes which were reinterpreted into unique high jewellery pieces spliced with her contemporary vision. Mirroring the codes from the first part of Spirit collection, four different lines have been created that reflect the values of the house of Louis Vuitton: Destiny, Liberty, Fantasy and Radiance.

Destiny is an homage to the V motif, a constant house code of the maison used in this line to pay respect to the ruby. Thirty-four rubies were selected for the necklace which took more than three years to source. They have all been perfectly matched in both size, colour and purity, culminating in a 3.13 carat pigeon blood ruby set from a Louis Vuitton monogram star cut diamond. For the wearer the beauty of the pieces is not only in the stones but in the lightness and easy movement of the pieces. A repetive play on the V’s in three strands of diamonds accentuates the curve of the wearers neck.

A second necklace continues the theme, playing on the house code of the V as well as the monogram flower. Six different monogram-cut diamonds interplay with a 3.26 carat ruby pendant. The V motif continues in sets of earrings that plunge from the ear.

The Liberty theme continues with inspiration from the house monogram. Seven different one off creations have been fashioned around custom-cut and LV monogram diamonds. The symbolic Damier pattern has been remade in high jewellery and the iconic trunk has been reinterpreted as a pendant necklace that unlocks and expands.

The trunk is the building block of an iconic armour-like pendant necklace that required more than 1300 hours of work and 195 different diamonds fashioned into a star pendant of three distinct lines culminating in 4.84 carat Columbian no-oil emerald.

The third part of the collection, Fantasy is an homage to the maison’s eponymous founder. This is expressed in the chevron pattern, again a play on the overriding V motif, while yellow gold V’s intertwine with pavé diamonds. The stand out piece is a two strand necklace of interlaced V’s and chevrons that can be worn in three different ways and is highlighted by two LV monogram star diamonds.

Radiance plays on Amfitheatrof’s belief that a woman’s jewellery is like armour. The standout piece being a necklace that combines the geometry of pyramids, triangles and diamond-paved V signatures culminating in a warm and glowing 17.48 Mandarin Spessarite garnet.

Spirit II is the final part of Amfitheatrof’s Spirit collection, and we can expect a fifth instalment of her high jewellery vision in June this year.

Like this read our interview with Francesca Amfitheatrof and her Spirit collection