Louis Vuitton: Jewelry Case

Louis Vuitton has been famous for its luggage and leather goods since the company was founded in1854, but when the luxury brand ventured into the rarefied world of haute joaillerie last year with a collection entitled Blason designed by hip-hop star Pharrell Williams, the experiment was less than well received. Now it’s comeback time, with a new Vuitton jewelry line called L’Ame du Voyage — The Spirit of Travel — designed by jeweler Lorenz Bäumer, who is already a well-established success with his own glittering salon in the Place Vendôme. With a French mother and a German father, Bäumer was born in Washington DC and graduated from a prestigious engineering school in Paris before launching into jewelry in the early 1990s. His new collection for Vuitton, inspired by India, the Far East and other exotic destinations is lacy, delicate and dramatic, with gold filigree and diamond sprays, and lots of the intensely colored precious stones for which Bäumer is known. 101 ave des Champs-Elysées, Paris 8th, 01.53.57.52.00.

Originally published in the December 2009 issue of France Today.