http://www.harpersbazaar.com/ukPHOTOGRAPHS: COURTESY OF LOUIS VUITTON, GETTY IMAGES
Francesca
Amfitheatrof.
Right: designs for
the collection
in progressJEWELLERY
A L’Intuition
necklaceLa Reine earrings.
Above left: a
Le Royaume ringAmfitheatrof designed ‘Le Roy aume’, inspired by Joan of Arc.
Pe n n a nt- sh a p e d d i a mond e a r r i n g s flut te r f r om t he e a rlob e , of f s e t by
a quartet of majestic sapphire and diamond rings, whose height and
structure recall Gothic arches. A pair of pendant lattice-work cages
on diamond chains each contain an enormous pearl, which appears
to float freely within; according to the designer, they are symbolic
of a sanctuary for a precious belief. ‘Because Vuitton is a house that
started with the trunks, which were about protecting your most
treasured possessions, I always went back to the idea that the jewellery
should, in a way, have the power to protect the wearer,’ she explains.
The concept reaches its epitome in the extraordinary diamond
and sapphire gorget, the line’s pièce de
résistance, which one can imagine being
worn into battle to guard the wearer
from a lethal blow. Amfitheatrof takes
the collar from its display case to show
me the fluidity of its construction, the way
the weight is evenly spread around the
neck. ‘When you wear it, it’s like a textile,’
she says, running it through her fingers.
‘La Reine’, by contrast, celebrates the
spirit and power of Queen Elizabeth I,
with a series of 10 pieces studded with
giant aquamarines, all cut from a single
rough stone. One beautifully brutal
diamond necklace is adorned with nine
huge aquamarines, cut to the size of Fox’s
Glacier Mints and adding up to almost
153 carats. ‘Imagine her, with her red
hair, wearing this!’ exults Amfitheatrof.
A pair of deliberately mismatched pen-
dant earrings, one bearing the Louis
Vuitton V, the other the house’s blossom symbol, nod to a daring and
unconventional spirit, but there is also an acknowledgment of
Gloriana’s darker, more capricious side in Amfitheatrof ’s choice
of stone. ‘I’ve never seen aquas like this in my life,’ she says.
‘Normally, they’re like a swimming pool, but these are moody- you feel like you’re being drawn into them, and there’s this
extra depth.’ And the secret of the Virgin Queen’s hidden
romantic liaisons is delicately hinted at in a bracelet that uses
the codes of the maison – the L, the V, the flower – to spell out
‘love’, hidden within the intricately patterned diamonds.
Other themes are intended to reflect feminine virtues: ‘L’Intu-
ition’ uses deep-green Colombian emeralds to connect strands of
diamonds together; a signet ring bears the Vuitton flower and an
emerald that appears to float on a black-onyx surface. ‘Le Tal isman’,
a 12-piece collection, also uses emeralds, set in discs of bright-blue
lapis lazuli, in amulets suitable for a high priestess. And the bravery
and chivalry of mediaeval heroines is acknowledged in ‘Les Arm-
oiries’, three gem-hilted dagger brooches, and ‘La Cavalière’ – the
Horsewoman – which evokes the jaunty bits, bridles and buckles of
harness in diamonds and blood-red Tanzanian spinels.
For Amfitheatrof, these pieces are intended to link the wearer
with female rulers of the past. ‘I wear my grandmother’s wedding
band, and I feel like it connects me to her,’ she says. ‘I think jewellery
has an incredible ability to be a time capsule, not just something to
wear.’ And in her exquisite reimagining of pieces from the age of
chivalry, she sweeps us all on this intoxicating journey across the
centuries, following in the hoofprints of the Riders of the Knights.
Below: the launch
of the pieces at the
Troja Palace.
Bottom: Queen
Elizabeth I