Until recently, the field of fine jewellery has been a mostly female affair. But take the temperature of the zeitgeist and you’ll see an undeniably growing segment of gents who really care about dressing up. Chalk it down to more evolved mores, or the push that Gen Z has led with its looser attitudes to gender archetypes. The fashion world has responded, and now it seems as if fine jewellery is catching up. The proof in the pudding is Les Gastons Vuitton, Louis Vuitton’s first collection of fine jewellery expressly and explicitly designed for men. Assigning gender to pieces of metal and stone is, of course, rather pointless in practice. But it matters at least because it means that luxury brands in the fine jewellery field are now considering and speaking to the tastes, styles and preferences of a new kind of customer.
The Les Gastons Vuitton collection is named after Gaston-Louis Vuitton, a grandson of the brand’s eponymous founder. A sensitive collector of cultural curious, an insatiably curious reader, and a lover of the arts, it was under him that the house introduced leather goods, travel accessories, and other luxury creations. Francesca Amfitheatrof, the brand’s artistic director of watches and jewellery, found these qualities of his entirely congruous with the values of people today—men and women alike. Rather than associate the pieces and this collection with, say, a celebrity ambassador, they’re intended to connect the resonant echoes one might have with the curiosity, creativity and open-mindedness of Gaston-Louis.
At its launch, the collection is made up of 16 styles, which comprises rings, pendant and chain necklaces, mono-earrings and bracelets. The most striking of these are four pieces that incorporate blue PVD (physical vapour deposition, a high-tech form of coating) titanium. According to Amfitheatrof, the indigo colour and matte textures are meant to evoke the ease and comfort of blue denim jeans. Amfitheatrof explains in collection notes: “Everyone owns a pair of jeans and the more you wear your jeans, the more you love them.”
The blue titanium features on simple forms like a yellow gold band ring engraved with the brand’s famous monogram, and a tag pendant necklace with laser-cut openwork monogram motifs. More novel yet: a Puzzle ring with three movable bands of blue titanium, and a pendant shaped like a draftsman’s writing instrument—the pencil is actually functional and removable—that nod at Gaston-Louis’s penchant for sketching designs and inventions.
These precision-engraved styles are also offered in more traditional forms like signet and band rings, and pendant necklaces and earrings, in white gold. There are some subtle nods, naturally, to Louis Vuitton’s legacy of travel. The steamer trunk is shrunk down into micro versions that act as the casing and setting for a diamond, available as a mono stud earring, or strung on a chain as necklaces and a bracelet. The detail on these trunk pieces are exacting, crafted from hand-polished white gold and even including elements like corner protectors. Another low-key reference to trunks and travel is the brand’s interpretation of a gourmette chain, which resembles old-school strips of ticket stubs.
Les Gastons Vuitton is carried at the brand’s boutiques at Ion Orchard and Marina Bay Sands.
