The reptile winds across the wall, fangs of gold hissing out from an articulated head.
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Yes, it is the Chinese Year of the Snake! And don’t you know it when following the fine jewelers in Place Vendôme, where Far East clients are legion.
At Bulgari, now part of the LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton luxury empire, the décor of the store gleams like a Gustav Klimt gilded painting. The slithering snakes serve as a backdrop to a pavé diamond necklace, spotted with emeralds, and fully articulated to curve around the neck at the breast bone.
Another all-diamond version of the “collier serpenti” (with a similar €1 million, about $1.34 million, price tag) was sold the day it arrived in the store.
But to its credit, the jeweler offered other ideas, too: a tutti frutti necklace of multicolored sapphires on a Mediterranean theme and exotic designs inspired by the Silk Road.
As with all luxury branding, there is a strong focus on heritage with jewelry houses emphasizing a history of both powerful pieces and famous clients. “The Impossible Collection of Jewelry” by the historian Vivienne Becker, to be published in February by Assouline, provides examples of how the famous jewelers have built and cemented their identities.
At Boucheron, the snake was more obviously a commodity — although it can be traced back into the company’s history, when the founder Frédéric and his wife, Gabrielle, attended a costume party. Her sensual, reptile necklace and gypsy attire has given its name to an entire collection: “Serpente Bohème.”
Here, the snakes are marketed from relatively low to high-rise price levels: €2,500 for a serpent ring with 20 times that for fancy and gem-filled pieces. With the designer Claire Choisne at the helm and a flagship newly opened in Hong Kong, the storied jeweler, in the PPR luxury group, is all keyed up for the Year of the Snake.
There is a strong whiff of marketing in the Place Vendôme as the few independent jewelers are overtaken by big brand names. While the focus of all high jewelry was centered on the Biennale des Antiquaires, which took place in Paris in September, it seemed natural that fashion houses should introduce clients to jewelry collections during last week’s Paris haute couture season.
While Dior did not offer a new line for haute couture, it followed the flower focus, which is intrinsic to the brand and to the designer Victoire de Castellane.
Among jewels shown in dollhouse settings were botanical pieces — not least an emerald and diamond flower necklace worn by the Japanese film star Eriko Hatsune. Her new movie “Emperor” with Tommy Lee Jones will be released in the United States in March.
For Chanel, the absolute focus in a near 100-piece collection was on camellias, the fetish floral symbol of the house since the days of Coco Chanel. Many of these new pieces are quite outstanding: the embroidery effect ring with pink and purple sapphires illuminating diamonds; and a black lacquer and white and yellow gold and diamond brooch inspired by Mademoiselle’s Coromandel screens.
Yet it seemed frustrating that in the urge to codify brand Chanel, there was no hint of the visionary modernity of Coco’s early comet designs nor of the recent lion symbolism.
There is justification for a strong brand identity — as long as the designs are good enough. The entire lace-inspired Louis Vuitton fine jewelry collection is a riff on the house’s monogram pattern — although that is not in-your-face evident. It was a collection of all diamonds — apart from a conjunction of a classic pearl necklace with a futuristic 3D symbol. Another piece used flat rose-cut diamonds, making the monogram anything but flashy.
“That is what the client wants,” said Michael Burke, newly appointed chairman and chief executive of Louis Vuitton, who says that fine jewelry is the category with the highest growth potential.
“The monogram is integral to Vuitton, jewelry is about trust — and people want jewelry from a trusted house,” said Mr. Burke, to explain the growth of branded jewelry.
Watch for Vuitton’s Damier emblem in diamonds sometime soon.
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