PARIS — Louis Vuitton is giving its famous Damier motif a precious upgrade.
Francesca Amfitheatrof, the luxury brand’s artistic director of watches and jewelry, has recast it as a line of fine jewelry named “Le Damier de Louis Vuitton.”
“It’s a diamond collection that’s not just about the stones but the pattern that they create,” said Amfitheatrof.
Ana de Armas, who is one of Louis Vuitton’s brand ambassadors and has been the face of its high jewelry collections since June 2023, will front the campaign for the new jewelry line.
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Captured by American photographer Ethan James Green, the visuals show the “Blonde” and “No Time to Die” actress stacking the new designs while wearing a sleeveless pinstriped look.
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The Damier pattern appeared in 1888, when Louis Vuitton sought to distinguish his trunks from those of competitors who’d begun copying his flat model.
“[It] was created out of necessity and it has become instantly recognizable as part of the maison’s DNA,” said Amfitheatrof.
For the new jewelry line, its distinctive two-tone check pattern is revisited as an alternation of gold squares and diamond-set ones.
For Amfitheatrof, creating a precious version of the Damier motif was as much about gold and diamonds as it was about creating a new experience of the pattern.
“Most of all to me preciousness is a feeling, an emotion,” she told WWD. “The fluidity and sensuality that the linking mechanism creates, the desire to touch and the soft feeling on the skin, that sensation is precisely what makes it precious.”
Rings are the core of the collection, with three different widths in both gold metals. A four-row design plays on the graphic appeal of the Damier for a statement piece.
In the two-row version, the designs skew more toward everyday wear and stacking, a direction she recently explored in “Les Gastons Vuitton,” an 18-piece range with a more masculine aesthetic that was introduced in January.
In particular, Amfitheatrof wanted the articulated bracelet to have the casual luxury mien of the tennis bracelet, a piece “always in motion and always on your wrist,” she said.
Taking well-known jewelry shapes and giving them a Vuitton revamp is an exercise the veteran jewelry designer relishes. She drew a parallel between the new line and the house founder’s bold move of creating the Damier pattern to create a visual signature for his products.
“[We] turned them into a modern, unisex collection that is both bold and contemporary and at the same time instantly recognizable as Vuitton,” she said.
Another feature of “Le Damier de Louis Vuitton” is the geometric center line that runs down the middle and creates a V-shaped profile from the side.
“The triangle is a subliminal shape that I constantly add to Vuitton jewelry because it mimics the shape of an arrow,” she said. “This was the first graphic symbol created and Vuitton is about motion and the yearning to travel so incorporating the pyramid gives energy and power.”
The jewelry designer also felt the additional contrast broke away from the dainty and classic side of tennis bracelets. “It’s replacing a universal design with the attitude of today and [making] it relevant again,” she continued.
Available from Oct. 18 in selected Louis Vuitton stores, “Le Damier de Louis Vuitton” starts at 4,400 euros for the thinnest ring and goes up to 31,000 euros for a wide bracelet. The pendant is priced at 6,400 euros while earrings are 11,000 euros.