Source: Luxe.CO “No one expected that we would invest such a large amount of money in the high-end jewelry business. I think this news will be very surprising to jewelry colleagues.

Source: Luxe.Co

"No one would have guessed that we would invest so much in the high-end jewelry business. I think this news will be very surprising to jewelry colleagues. "

——Louis Vuitton CEO Michael Burke

2020 1 In March, Louis Vuitton (Louis Vuitton) spent about 50 million US dollars to buy the world's second largest diamond rough stone Sewelô (Botswana for rare, pictured below). This tennis ball-sized rough stone is completely dark and weighs 1,758 carats.

If Louis Vuitton’s purchase of Sewelô was beyond the expectations of other jewelry peers, then within a year (November 2020) it also purchased the 549-carat Sethunya (Botswana, meaning For flowers, pictured below), it has clearly demonstrated its ambitions in the field of high-end jewelry.

This practice of procuring rough diamonds directly from miners without middlemen greatly ensures the source and quality of diamonds, and also elevates Louis Vuitton's high-end jewelry customization services to a new level.

In 2009, Louis Vuitton launched its first high-end jewelry series, L’Ame du Voyage. Compared with the 167-year brand history, Louis Vuitton’s high-end jewelry business is still young. In addition to spending heavily on rare rough diamonds, Louis Vuitton has continued to increase its investment in high-end jewelry over the past decade or so, from product design to store creation.

The first female creative director from Tiffany

"High jewelry can be paired with a white T-shirt, not a dress. Design to me means innovation and fun, which is the style of Louis Vuitton."

——Louis Vuitton jewelry and watches Artistic Director Francesca Amfitheatrof

2018, Francesca Amfitheatrof The addition of Louis Vuitton, led by two male designers (women's wear creative director Nicolas Ghesquière and men's wear creative director Virgil Abloh), has added an important female perspective.

Following the first high-end jewelry series "Riders of the Knights (pictured above, with the theme of paying tribute to medieval heroines)" after joining the brand, Francesca Amfitheatrof brought the second high-end jewelry series "Stellar Times (pictured below, below)" in 2020 Inspired by women’s desire to explore the stars and the universe).”

Looking back on her resume, Francesca Amfitheatrof was the first female creative director of the American jewelry giant Tiffany since its establishment in 1837. She worked for Tiffany for 5 years and was the shaper of the "T Series", leading the brand's youthful reform. Today, she is also injecting a youthful design language into Louis Vuitton’s jewelry works.

In 2020, Francesca Amfitheatrof also brought a new unisex fashion jewelry series LV VOLT to Louis Vuitton, with a single product priced at up to 735,000 yuan. This series cleverly integrates the L and V letters of the brand name into triangle and grid patterns; the previous fashion jewelry series B blossom boldly innovated the Blossom pattern designed by Louis Vuitton family member Georges Louis Vuitton in 1896. The two series have strong similarities in the innovation of the brand's iconic vision.

It is worth noting that the LV VOLT series of commercials (pictured below) also fully demonstrate the inclusive attitude of the brand and designers towards young people across ethnicities and genders.

The campaign features four creative minds: Hugo Marchand, principal dancer of the Paris Opera Ballet. Swedish actress and Oscar winner Alicia Vikander, French artist Sharon Alexie and Chinese model Mao Xiaoxing

"The adventurous style of the brand (Louis Vuitton) is very important to me, which is very consistent with my personal growth and life experience."

Francesca Amfitheatrof The concept of openness and inclusiveness and creativity are rooted in her multi-national life experience. Francesca Amfitheatrof was born in Japan and lived in New York, London, and Rome . His father, a Russian, is the editor-in-chief of Time magazine; his mother, an Italian, is a publicist for the luxury brand Valentino. She started designing jewelry at the age of 15 and graduated from Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design and Royal College of Art in jewelry. While in school, he studied under the master goldsmith Giovanni Corvaja and gained profound professional skills.After graduating from

, Francesca Amfitheatrof spent many years designing jewelry for Chanel and Fendi under the guidance of her mentor, the late design master Karl Lagerfeld. In addition, Francesca Amfitheatrof also served as a senior jewelry designer for the British royal jewelry brand Asprey Garrard. She has designed for luxury brands such as Balenciaga and Marni, and served as curator of the Gucci Museum in Florence for three consecutive years.

Before Francesca Amfitheatrof, the design work of Louis Vuitton high-end jewelry was divided into two stages:

French designer Lorenz Bäumer served as the artistic director of Louis Vuitton jewelry department from 2008 to 2015. Prior to that, he worked in the Chanel jewelry department for more than ten years (as one of the first brands in the fashion industry to dabble in jewelry, Chanel is the cradle of many jewelry designers).

The designer’s masterpiece is Louis Vuitton’s first high-end jewelry collection, L’Ame du Voyage (pictured below), which showcases the brand’s travel DNA.

In the second phase, the brand’s in-house team is responsible for the design of high-end jewelry, symbolized by the Art Deco high-end jewelry series Acte V (pictured below) launched in 2013. This series is inspired by the "V" letter (Roman numeral 5) designed by Gaston-Louis Vuitton, the third generation of the Louis Vuitton family, and also symbolizes the fifth high-end jewelry series.

Upgraded high-end jewelry flagship store

Place Vendôme in Paris, known as the paradise of high-end jewelry, has been the oldest jewelry landmark in Europe since the French high-end jewelry brand Boucheron opened its first boutique in 1893. .

This place not only brings together Cartier (Cartier), BVLGARI (Bulgari), Van Cleef Arpels (Van Cleef Arpels), Piaget (Earl), Chaumet (Shangmei Paris) and other traditional jewelry families, In recent years, a number of luxury brands that started out as fashion leather goods have entered the field of high-end jewelry and opened their first stores in the world: Chanel, The first high-end jewelry stores of Dior, Gucci and other brands opened here in 1997, 2010 and 2019 respectively. Opening a store in an "arena" surrounded by heroes shows the brand's expectations for the future of the high-end jewelry business.

Louis Vuitton opened an independent high-end jewelry boutique at 2 Place Vendôme in 2012; in 2017, the store completed a renovation project and was designed by the brand's architect Peter Marino. After renovation, a dedicated high-end jewelry workshop (pictured below) was set up on the top floor of this five-story building to show customers the rigorous production process of each piece; the first floor of the flagship store displays finished high-end jewelry works.

Other top luxury brands that are developing high-end jewelry

In the past two years, the industry has witnessed Louis Vuitton’s peers Gucci, Chanel, Dior, Hermès, Prada Prada), Giorgio Armani ( Giorgio Armani ) and other luxury brands have shown greater ambition in the high-end jewelry category:

In 2019, the Italian luxury brand Gucci launched its first high-end jewelry series, designed by brand creative director Alessandro Michele, and has been launched in the past two years. High-end jewelry boutiques were opened in Place Vendôme in Paris and Kuwait in 2016.

In the same year, two Italian luxury brands launched high-end jewelry series, Giorgio Armani and Prada. Giorgio Armani first released the Prive Haute Jewelery high-end jewelry series in the New York flagship store as an extension of Prive's high-end clothing.

Prada has also launched its first gold high-end jewelry series. This decision is based on the good market feedback received by the brand's "fashion jewelry" category.

In recent years, the three major French luxury brands Chanel, Dior and Hermès, which have been deeply involved in the field of high-end jewelry for many years, have also strengthened their brand exploration in the field of high-end jewelry to the outside world by holding jewelry exhibitions and other forms.

In 2019, Chanel, the "Into Chanel" exhibition held in Shanghai specially set up a "Fine Jewelry" space to display the first and only high-end jewelry series Bijoux de Diamants (reproduction) launched by Ms. COCO Chanel in 1932. .

2018 marks the 20th anniversary of the launch of Dior 's high-end jewelry series. Victoire de Castellane, the jewelry art director who has been working for the brand for the past 20 years, specially launched a commemorative book Dior Joaillerie: The Dictionary of Victoire de Castellane, which reviews more than 300 pieces of the brand's high-end jewelry. work.

The French luxury brand Hermès, which launched its first high-end jewelry series in 2011, will hold the high-end jewelry exhibition "Liuguang Chain Shadow" in Shanghai in 2019. The core design element of the exhibition's "anchor chain" can be traced back to the jewelry pieces inspired by anchors and iron chains designed by Robert Dumas, a member of the Hermès family, in 1938.

Not all jewelry can be called "Haute Joaillerie (high jewelry)". Despite facing various challenges in product development, creative design and supply chain, why do luxury brands such as fashion leather goods have to face the difficulties? What role will high-end jewelry play in the development strategies of these brands?

- From a business perspective, focusing on non-core categories will undoubtedly provide new space for the brand's sales growth, and also pave the way for a strong business matrix for building a full-category luxury lifestyle brand.

—— From the perspective of customer groups, from entry-level to high-end products, luxury brands need to maintain long-term and careful maintenance of each loyal customer and constantly provide new surprises. The high-end jewelry category can precisely attract the "customers" that the brand values ​​most. Maximize lifetime value.

- From a brand perspective, expanding the business to the "hard luxury" category at the top of the luxury pyramid is also of extraordinary significance for improving brand image and IP value.

Bain Consulting data shows that jewelry was one of the best-performing categories in the personal luxury goods market in 2018. The global market size was 18 billion euros, a year-on-year increase of 7%, and the growth rate even surpassed the high-margin handbag category.

Under the special background of the 2020 epidemic, the ability of hard luxury jewelry to withstand pressure is even more obvious to all. The latest quarterly results of Switzerland's Richemont, which has a strong portfolio of jewelry brands, show that despite the ongoing turmoil caused by the epidemic, driven by Cartier and Van Cleef Arpels, , the sales of the jewelry department increased by 14% year-on-year to 2.366 billion euros. The group's sales in mainland China increased by as much as 80%.

In January 2021, Louis Vuitton's parent company LVMH Group completed the acquisition of Tiffany, significantly increasing the weight of jewelry in the group's territory. Louis Vuitton CEO Michael Burke was also appointed as a director of Tiffany.

It is foreseeable that as more luxury brands extend their tentacles into the old and new alluring field of "high-end jewelry", the high-end jewelry market will enter the "Warring States Era" where many heroes are competing.

, Francesca Amfitheatrof spent many years designing jewelry for Chanel and Fendi under the guidance of her mentor, the late design master Karl Lagerfeld. In addition, Francesca Amfitheatrof also served as a senior jewelry designer for the British royal jewelry brand Asprey Garrard. She has designed for luxury brands such as Balenciaga and Marni, and served as curator of the Gucci Museum in Florence for three consecutive years.

Before Francesca Amfitheatrof, the design work of Louis Vuitton high-end jewelry was divided into two stages:

French designer Lorenz Bäumer served as the artistic director of Louis Vuitton jewelry department from 2008 to 2015. Prior to that, he worked in the Chanel jewelry department for more than ten years (as one of the first brands in the fashion industry to dabble in jewelry, Chanel is the cradle of many jewelry designers).

The designer’s masterpiece is Louis Vuitton’s first high-end jewelry collection, L’Ame du Voyage (pictured below), which showcases the brand’s travel DNA.

In the second phase, the brand’s in-house team is responsible for the design of high-end jewelry, symbolized by the Art Deco high-end jewelry series Acte V (pictured below) launched in 2013. This series is inspired by the "V" letter (Roman numeral 5) designed by Gaston-Louis Vuitton, the third generation of the Louis Vuitton family, and also symbolizes the fifth high-end jewelry series.

Upgraded high-end jewelry flagship store

Place Vendôme in Paris, known as the paradise of high-end jewelry, has been the oldest jewelry landmark in Europe since the French high-end jewelry brand Boucheron opened its first boutique in 1893. .

This place not only brings together Cartier (Cartier), BVLGARI (Bulgari), Van Cleef Arpels (Van Cleef Arpels), Piaget (Earl), Chaumet (Shangmei Paris) and other traditional jewelry families, In recent years, a number of luxury brands that started out as fashion leather goods have entered the field of high-end jewelry and opened their first stores in the world: Chanel, The first high-end jewelry stores of Dior, Gucci and other brands opened here in 1997, 2010 and 2019 respectively. Opening a store in an "arena" surrounded by heroes shows the brand's expectations for the future of the high-end jewelry business.

Louis Vuitton opened an independent high-end jewelry boutique at 2 Place Vendôme in 2012; in 2017, the store completed a renovation project and was designed by the brand's architect Peter Marino. After renovation, a dedicated high-end jewelry workshop (pictured below) was set up on the top floor of this five-story building to show customers the rigorous production process of each piece; the first floor of the flagship store displays finished high-end jewelry works.

Other top luxury brands that are developing high-end jewelry

In the past two years, the industry has witnessed Louis Vuitton’s peers Gucci, Chanel, Dior, Hermès, Prada Prada), Giorgio Armani ( Giorgio Armani ) and other luxury brands have shown greater ambition in the high-end jewelry category:

In 2019, the Italian luxury brand Gucci launched its first high-end jewelry series, designed by brand creative director Alessandro Michele, and has been launched in the past two years. High-end jewelry boutiques were opened in Place Vendôme in Paris and Kuwait in 2016.

In the same year, two Italian luxury brands launched high-end jewelry series, Giorgio Armani and Prada. Giorgio Armani first released the Prive Haute Jewelery high-end jewelry series in the New York flagship store as an extension of Prive's high-end clothing.

Prada has also launched its first gold high-end jewelry series. This decision is based on the good market feedback received by the brand's "fashion jewelry" category.

In recent years, the three major French luxury brands Chanel, Dior and Hermès, which have been deeply involved in the field of high-end jewelry for many years, have also strengthened their brand exploration in the field of high-end jewelry to the outside world by holding jewelry exhibitions and other forms.

In 2019, Chanel, the "Into Chanel" exhibition held in Shanghai specially set up a "Fine Jewelry" space to display the first and only high-end jewelry series Bijoux de Diamants (reproduction) launched by Ms. COCO Chanel in 1932. .

2018 marks the 20th anniversary of the launch of Dior 's high-end jewelry series. Victoire de Castellane, the jewelry art director who has been working for the brand for the past 20 years, specially launched a commemorative book Dior Joaillerie: The Dictionary of Victoire de Castellane, which reviews more than 300 pieces of the brand's high-end jewelry. work.

The French luxury brand Hermès, which launched its first high-end jewelry series in 2011, will hold the high-end jewelry exhibition "Liuguang Chain Shadow" in Shanghai in 2019. The core design element of the exhibition's "anchor chain" can be traced back to the jewelry pieces inspired by anchors and iron chains designed by Robert Dumas, a member of the Hermès family, in 1938.

Not all jewelry can be called "Haute Joaillerie (high jewelry)". Despite facing various challenges in product development, creative design and supply chain, why do luxury brands such as fashion leather goods have to face the difficulties? What role will high-end jewelry play in the development strategies of these brands?

- From a business perspective, focusing on non-core categories will undoubtedly provide new space for the brand's sales growth, and also pave the way for a strong business matrix for building a full-category luxury lifestyle brand.

—— From the perspective of customer groups, from entry-level to high-end products, luxury brands need to maintain long-term and careful maintenance of each loyal customer and constantly provide new surprises. The high-end jewelry category can precisely attract the "customers" that the brand values ​​most. Maximize lifetime value.

- From a brand perspective, expanding the business to the "hard luxury" category at the top of the luxury pyramid is also of extraordinary significance for improving brand image and IP value.

Bain Consulting data shows that jewelry was one of the best-performing categories in the personal luxury goods market in 2018. The global market size was 18 billion euros, a year-on-year increase of 7%, and the growth rate even surpassed the high-margin handbag category.

Under the special background of the 2020 epidemic, the ability of hard luxury jewelry to withstand pressure is even more obvious to all. The latest quarterly results of Switzerland's Richemont, which has a strong portfolio of jewelry brands, show that despite the ongoing turmoil caused by the epidemic, driven by Cartier and Van Cleef Arpels, , the sales of the jewelry department increased by 14% year-on-year to 2.366 billion euros. The group's sales in mainland China increased by as much as 80%.

In January 2021, Louis Vuitton's parent company LVMH Group completed the acquisition of Tiffany, significantly increasing the weight of jewelry in the group's territory. Louis Vuitton CEO Michael Burke was also appointed as a director of Tiffany.

It is foreseeable that as more luxury brands extend their tentacles into the old and new alluring field of "high-end jewelry", the high-end jewelry market will enter the "Warring States Era" where many heroes are competing.