The most exotic trip? Try time travel. Far from reality, of course, but that’s the brilliant conceit behind Louis Vuitton’s Deep Time collection of high jewellery. The maison unveiled its second chapter earlier this year in Paris, before bringing the range to Phuket in March, with a showcase held at a private villa in the Amanpuri resort.
The collection, as its name suggests, is inspired by Earth’s momentous history—its tectonic shifts, and the miraculous happenstance of life and evolution. Chapter Two adds 50 new pieces across 10 different themes. These themes begin with geological concepts such as the ancient supercontinents of Gondwana and Laurasia, and continental drift; and conclude with cradle of life ideas such as DNA, skin, bones and plants. A souped up, sped-up journey through our planet’s history, if you will.
This trip way back in time comes from the mind of Francesca Amfitheatrof, the house’s ingenious artistic director of watches and jewellery. She was on hand in Phuket to offer some insight into how she arrived at this audacious interpretation of travel in jewellery.
Your high jewellery collections for Louis Vuitton always have a strong narrative framework. Deep Time has an almost nature documentary feel to it. How did you envision it?
Well, I really wanted to talk about stones. There’s a narrative every year, and I felt I hadn’t had one about gemology and geology. I’m always fascinated by the mines that we go to, why we go to such odd mines, and how we try and propose unusual stones to our clients. I started with the Big Bang and the creation, that’s very BBC. But I also found that whole evolution—all the way to a flower, and to end at the Vuitton flower—quite poetic.
You started and completed an incredible project a while ago, where you made a holiday home in a cave on an Italian island. That must have involved a lot of geological-architectural work. Did that influence Deep Time in some way?
It’s interesting. Because I’ve discovered I have two houses that I live in. One is in a place called Mine Hill, in Connecticut, that’s by a mine. And the other one is a cave. Oh, my God, I didn’t even realise it! So not done on purpose. But the inspiration trip that we did for this collection was on the island that my cave was in.
What was that inspiration trip like?
We went to this tiny island in Italy and worked every day in my cave. We had three people come out to teach us: a geologist, a botanist who taught us about early plants, and a historian because [the island] has an ancient Roman harbour and a lot of ruins. We would study with one of these people, go for a swim, and then go back and do something creative. I’d say to my team, “Okay, you’re walking from the harbour to the cave. Make a piece of jewellery with whatever you find on your walk.” And some of the jewellery we made there with insects and plants we actually turned into the exact designs that you see. So [Deep Time] was very much created there.
What difference did an environment and experience like that make?
What I like to do with the team is to create experiences that lead to design, rather than looking on Pinterest. Creating from an experience means you’re emotionally connected, so you create in a different way with memories and feelings.
There are some exceptional, unique stones in this collection. Are there any gemstones you’re still dying to work with?
I’m always trying to facet moonstones. Not an expensive material, but I love the idea of the iridescent blue of moonstones next to the white of diamonds. I love trapiche emeralds, which is when they have that star in them. None of these are crazy expensive, but they’re interesting. There was a necklace in Deep Time Chapter One called Rapture, which has a line of zircons. Not the fake diamonds. They’re kind of a brownie-orangey colour, not what you would normally consider super precious. But it is the first stone that was formed on the planet, and it was there for the story and the theme.
When you are designing high jewellery for a luxury house like Louis Vuitton, do you feel obligated to go for ultra-preciousness?
It’s a mixture. We have the luck to source some unbelievable stones of the highest quality, but we love to play around and propose things that are unusual. Sometimes it isn’t about the biggest stone, you know?
Do you always keep an eye out for unusual stones?
When we go to the Tucson gem fair every year, I try to find something that’s not necessarily the most precious but that we can buy a lot of and do something a bit crazy and fun with. One year, we bought these white topazes. Gigantic stones—like, enormous. It was in Riders of the Knights (Amfitheatrof’s debut collection for Louis Vuitton), in a necklace called Le Coeur. When I bought them, everyone was like “Ugh! What are we going to do with them? They’re not very French, not very elegant, not this, not that.” We could have sold 10 of those necklaces. Because it’s fun and people loved it. But we only made one.
So the interest in these pieces with unusual stones is…
Huge! It’s surprising sometimes how people react to things. But if something catches my eye, and I think it’s unusual, I know I can make something out of it.
This interview has been edited for clarity and length.
The May ‘Escape’ issue of Vogue Singapore is available online and on newsstands now.
