WARRIOR WOMEN

Here’s to all the times we wear jewellery to protect, bring positivity, and make ourselves brave.

- STEPHANIE IP

Mankind has historically worn jewellery for symbolic reasons. For thousands of years, jewellery was worn as a symbol of status, wealth, and victory in battles, worn as amulets for protection and good luck—and for actual protection (think decorated breastplates and archer’s rings). Leaning more into modern times, it was worn to symbolise more sentimental narratives, from love and marriage to friendship and personal mottos.

We only need to look to Francesca Amfitheatrof, the Artistic Director of Watches and Jewellery at Louis Vuitton, to understand how deeply jewellery can affect us. Amfitheatrof has always believed that jewellery and its wearer are inextricably linked. When she revealed her fourth collection, Spirit, for Louis Vuitton in 2022, she said, “I don’t think anything else in the world has the power to hold the spirit of the person so much as jewellery does.”

Weaving together the codes of the maison, Spirit Chapter II, launched in 2023, is set across four universes that speak to the values of Louis Vuitton as well as Amfitheatrof ’s own core beliefs. Radiance, quite literally, is designed to be like armour, playing into her belief that a woman’s jewellery is armour, a kind of protection that shields the woman and emboldens her to go forth in her adventures. The Radiance necklace is a geometric masterpiece of golden pyramids and diamond-pavé V signatures that hold together a fiery 17.48-carat Mandarin Spessarite garnet. There’s also a five-strand cuff bracelet and a set of earcuffs, with the same chainmail-like design to bring the warrior woman look full circle.