Chain, Chain, Chain - The New York Times

Posted: 15 Sep 2019 12:00 AM PDT

The jewelry world has been experiencing a chain reaction: Following in the wake of fashion's continuing love affair with streetwear, luxury jewelers have been giving a favorite street accessory — the simple gold chain — a serious luxury makeover.

Consider the elaborate gold work and diamond and red spinel accents of La Cavalière necklace, one of Francesca Amfitheatrof's first haute jewelry creations for Louis Vuitton, presented in July during the couture shows in Paris. The 50-piece collection, called Riders of the Knights, also included several Le Talisman chains in sapphires, emeralds and diamonds.

Chains also were a big part of Vuitton's fine jewelry selection, named B. Blossom, introduced this past spring in Ms. Amfitheatrof's debut as the house's jewelry and watch artistic director. The elongated gold loops of necklaces, earrings and bracelets were hung with oversized pendants and chunky charms of the house's flower monogram, some made from diamonds, mother-of-pearl, onyx and pink opal.

Boucheron has its own unconventional chain, a flexible gold strand with magnetized connectors, called the Jack. And Tiffany & Company has expanded its HardWear line, reshaping chain links for a more utilitarian, industrial look and accenting them with delicate bulbs of gold that emphasize the collection's architectural form.

And there are watches: Chaumet's Boléro collection of yellow gold and pink gold timepieces come with a specially engineered jewelry-like chain bracelet of 330 components, set together tightly for suppleness.

Some of the jewelry industry's well-known independents around the world have also embraced the trend.

In London, Jessica McCormack completed her third chain collection, called Paperclip, which included a 22.5-inch-long necklace of 18-karat rose gold links interspersed with blackened white gold hoops and accented with two diamond-set discs. Its elongated links resemble those found on old pocket watch chains: "It's a masculine inspiration but worn in a relevant, female way," Ms. McCormack said.

Credit...

And, the designer added, some of the jeweled pendants from her past collections could be added to the Paperclip chain. "You have to be savvy and make your collection work for you," she said. "Chains are really important and versatile, in that you can use other things, like clipping on an old grandmother's ring."

In Athens, Nikos Koulis's new Feelings collection included sinuous 18-karat gold lengths that are knotted and curled around gems like a marquise-cut diamond or a four-carat blue sapphire. In Stockholm, Emma Israelsson created a necklace with a horizontal strip of seven fixed links that rest between the wearer's collarbones. "A piece of a chain — the link — is as strong as a very long chain," she said. "It matters."

In New York, each link in David Yurman's double-chain Curb Chain bracelet is set with black pavé diamonds for a gritty but luxurious look. And in Los Angeles, the Katkim brand's ear pin is accented with five fixed links in yellow, white or rose gold. Its designer, Katherine Kim, said such chain motifs are the "simple, timeless essence of jewelry."

The Italian house Pomellato has reflected that belief since 1967, when Pino Rabolini, the son of a Milanese goldsmith, channeled the Swinging Sixties' freedoms into an avant-garde jewelry house and his debut pieces featured bold gold chain. Recently, Vincenzo Castaldo, the house's current creative director, paid homage to Mr. Rabolini's vision — by embracing the reverse.

"Pomellato was always about boldness, exuberance, extravagance and volume," Mr. Castaldo said. "But I wanted to take the creative expression of chains to the opposite side, for a minimal approach to jewels that are easy to wear while preserving the impeccable Pomellato style." His Brera collection celebrated the look of a chain, but, for example, the gold links that form its ring actually were sculpted in a bas-relief style, for maximum thinness.

Credit...

Mr. Castaldo also ensured that the bracelet could be worn to show its matte finish or its opposite, polished gold side with pavé diamond accents, allowing wearers to decide which one to display. "It's a small freedom," he said, "but gives you a playfulness where you can find your personal look and interpretation." The necklace may be the collection's most versatile piece, a sliding clasp allowing the owner to create a choker, sautoir or any length in between.

Adaptability also was at the heart of Messika's Lucky Move collection. Based on Valérie Messika's signature Move design of tactile, sliding diamonds, Lucky Move featured long, weighty chains that are essentially carabiners — with spring-loaded, screw closures — that can be accented with diamond-studded discs.

"The way the necklace sits on the neck, with a big, big medallion and chain, brings a coolness to the collection," Ms. Messika said.

It was the same kind of coolness that Virgil Abloh must have been going for when, in his role as artistic director of Louis Vuitton's men's wear, he sent models in his spring 2019 show down the runway wearing chunky white ceramic chains, one unabashedly hung with the house's logo.

The look was expanded in later seasons with the metallic Monogram Colors chain and the Chain Links Patches necklace, a mix of distressed, polished and enameled links in contrasting colors and patterned with the house logo, monogram patterns and Swarovski crystals.

To bring the subject full circle: One comment on a Hypebeast story about the jewelry this summer noted: "It's becoming real street L.V."