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Louis Vuitton is bringing colour back to the conversation. When Georges Vuitton sketched out a floral pattern in 1896 to stop people from copying his father’s luxury trunks, he actually ended up creating a global emblem. The Louis Vuitton Monogram drew heavily from the swirling geometry of Victorian Gothic architecture and the Japanese family crests that were fascinating Parisian society at the time. A hundred and thirty years later, this floral obsession continues to evolve.
This Autumn, the brand is expanding its ‘Color Blossom’ jewellery collection with a material you almost never see in Place Vendôme windows today. They have sourced a striking, deep navy mineral called ‘sodalite’ to bring a completely new mood to the iconic four-petal flower.
People often refer to sodalite as the salt stone because of its unique mineral makeup. It is an opaque, moody rock filled with tiny white inclusions that look like distant galaxies or sea foam. Louis Vuitton rejects almost all of it, insisting on only the most vibrant blue cuts to ensure absolute quality. Turning these rough rocks into jewellery is a notoriously difficult task. The lapidary artisans have to sculpt the sodalite into a curved, three-dimensional dome known as a bombé shape. This rounding technique takes five times longer to execute than traditional flat polishing. It brings the Monogram flower to life, giving the hard stone a soft, voluminous presence that catches the light beautifully.
The introduction of this blue wonder comes with a fleet of 28 new additions to the Color Blossom universe. Seven of these focus entirely on the new sodalite. You can find delicate star and sun pendant necklaces, a sprawling long sautoir and a rather brilliant open ring that pairs a navy star with a single round diamond. The rest of the launch focuses on bringing an absurd amount of sparkle to the party.
The jewellers have introduced pavé creations, surrounding the carved central stones with halos of diamonds. The gold is polished to an extreme shine, demanding absolute skill to navigate the tricky angles of the setting. These diamond borders frame white mother-of-pearl and vivid green malachite, creating a brilliant contrast between the organic gems and the brilliant-cut diamonds. The design team has also expanded the hugely popular pink mother-of-pearl range, adding a long sautoir and minimalist pendants that are perfect for layering.
The entire idea behind the Color Blossom range is about self-styling. You are actively encouraged to tangle your necklaces and combine different coloured stones until you find a combination that feels entirely your own. It is a wonderfully playful way to celebrate a 130-year-old motif that still has an infinite capacity for reinvention.
Discover the new Color Blossom collection, now available here.
photography. courtesy of Mathieu Boutang, Thomas Lagrange, Juliette Abitbol, Laziz Hamani
words. Gennaro Costanzo
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