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White and yellow diamond, sapphire, spinel and garnet necklace by Lorenz Baumer for Louis Vuitton

Louis Vuitton Jewelry

Extraordinary workmanship and creativity in Louis Vuitton's new collection

To create something completely, utterly new is the challenge of every designer. But even more so for jewellery designers, whose imaginations are reigned in by the realities of production.

But then along comes Louis Vuitton, which not only gave Lorenz Baumer the freedom to pursue his creative fantasies in designing the new L'Ame du Voyage collection. It supported him when those dreams meant pushing its goldsmiths and diamond cutters to the edge.

The result is simply extraordinary. A collection inspired by ocean waves and tango dancers, with sprays of pink sapphires and diamond curls.

But the piece de resistance is a necklace of yellow and white diamonds, a rainbow of sapphires, garnets and spinels, and white, yellow and red gold. There are many influences in the piece - watch gears, a stained glass window, Alexander Calder circle paintings, even the ripples formed when rain drops on water.

It's a riot of colour, a static piece with incredible movement and quite simply unlike any piece of jewelry around.

"When we gave the drawings to the ateliers, they were completely lost because it was never done before," Baumer remarks in the LV press material.

In a brazen homage to the LV monogram, Baumer developed two new diamond cuts - the Louis Vuitton Flower and the Louis Vuitton Star. Despite their off-beat shapes, the stones promise maximum fire. A standard brilliant cut has 58 facets. The LV diamonds have between 66 and 77.

The LV flower and star are also cut out of gold, forming a delicate monogram lace.

No wonder, as Baumer puts it, the designs were realized, "With joy, with tears, with grinding teeth, with smiles, with happiness, with despair.

"And you can feel it within the jewels."