LOUIS VUITTON @ BLOSSOM

 The Monogram Flower, one of the House’s key symbols, takes on a new bloom with the arrival of a double collection including both jewellery and precious watches. The highlight of both is a focus on flowers sculpted from mother-of-pearl and ornamental stones, creating a sense of delicate femininity, highlighted by the Louis Vuitton savoir-faire. This three-dimensional work on both mother-of-pearl and stones allows the Monogram Flower to open its petals across the sautoir necklaces, pendants, bracelets and earrings of the Blossom jeweller y collection. Grey or white mother-of-pearl, cornelian or tiger’s eye come together in a visual echo of the House of Louis Vuitton’s trademark colours in warm shades of brown and gold. This same softness is evident in the feel of the pieces themselves: hand-sculpted and polished, the stones and mother-of-pearl provide a rounded contour, contrasting with the fine chains of yellow and pink gold. A gold nail similar to those used on Louis Vuitton trunks drives itself into the heart of certain petals. Set within a circle or a diamond shape, the Monogram Flower represents both the heritage and savoir-faire of the House.

This is a subtle paean, given added sparkle with the presence of two high jewellery pieces, a long chain entirely paved with diamonds and a necklace with medallions of sculpted mother-of-pearl on a row of Tahitian pearls. At once harmonious and sensual, the Blossom collection allows one of the classic Louis Vuitton symbols to flower according to the tenets of the House’s art of jewellery. Bathed in pink or blue, the Monogram Flower at the centre of the Blossom watches is another example of the technical excellence of the Fabrique du Temps Louis Vuitton. Each flower is sculpted in three dimensions from a single piece of mother-of-pearl, the shapes and details emulating every gesture of the hand, according to the technique used for cameos.

Shades of blue or pink are then applied to the reverse of the piece, again by hand, to create a delicate, nuanced effect. The finesse and delicate attention to detail of this craftsmanship allows the House to create every more exceptional watch faces. With the mother- of-pearl flower as a centerpiece, each face also features diamonds, from a steel design with studded bezel and index to a pink gold version with a snow-set face. Cases and indexes are also diamond-paved on the Tambour Spin Time and Tambour Monogram Tourbillon. On the Tambour Monogram Tourbillon, one of the petals of the flower is replaced by the flower-shaped cage of the tourbillon, a movement created by the Fabrique du Temps Louis Vuitton. Likewise the Tambour Spin Time, a movement allowing the time to be read thanks to a series of rotating diamond-studded cubes placed around the central flower. An alligator bracelet matches the pink or blue shade of the Monogram Flower.