Montaigne Market

Montaigne Market’s minimalist aesthetic makes it as chilly a space as you’ll find in Paris, but this high-fashion boutique emphasizes exclusivity, showcasing limited-edition pieces sold nowhere else. Alongside a stable of handpicked, A-list ready-to-wear, Montaigne Market’s specially commissioned status bags and jewelry are a big draw for deep pockets. This winter, the Va Va Voom So Black, a limited edition of Valentino’s signature bag, with a gunmetal clasp and chain instead of the usual gold, sold out in a week. The latest designer collaboration, with Alexander McQueen, is a beaded black-on-black Union Jack-patterned clutch bag. Sporting a clasp in the form of a rhinestone-studded death’s head—the store’s unofficial emblem—it was produced in an edition of 25 (€1,670).

Known for a choice collection of high-end fashion jewelry—including, along with the ubiquitous skulls, lots of lizards, snakes and Victoriana—the boutique’s latest exclusivité is the Zebra bracelet from white-hot designer Shamballa, with black and white diamond-studded spheres woven into a black macramé band. Bracelet, and price, are available only on request. Other notable exclusives include Stone’s eye-catching Light My Fire cuff (€6,675) and Elise Dray’s creeping dragon ring, made for Montaigne Market in rose gold and white diamonds, which curls expensively (€13,240) up your finger.

57 ave Montaigne, 8th, 01.42.56.58.58. www.montaignemarket.com

Originally published in the April 2012 issue of France Today