Daria Werbowy wearing a Gucci Allegoria High Jewelry necklace set with a yellow sapphire, tourmalines and diamonds. Photo David Sims
Jewelry News
Gucci High Jewelry Shines in the LA Sun
Daria Werbowy modeled the new collection at the Chateau Marmont pool
February 2, 2024—If you ride out the dead of winter in Los Angeles—as I have been lucky enough to do this year—you experience a season that bears no resemblance to the chilly situation back home in New York City. In fact, it isn’t even called winter. The timeframe is considered Awards Season and the sun is generally shining.
Gucci has long understood the allure of the city as well as the pool at the Chateau Marmont. The Chateau is the location for Gucci’s new High Jewelry campaign. Conceived by Creative Director Sabato De Sarno, the jewelry was photographed by David Sims on model Daria Werbowy at the pool at the historic Chateau Marmont which opened on February 1, 1929.
Over the last few seasons since Gucci launched High Jewelry, the standout pieces have included vintage elements which instantly infuses a design with a sense of history and story.
Gucci’s 2022 collection dubbed Hortus Deliciarum, Latin for Garden of Delights, had a fantasy Grand Tour theme and jewels set with authentic 19th century micromosaics that were once souvenirs for well-heeled tourists on excursions through Europe.
The new collection named Allegoria, which is both Italian and Latin for Allegories, features antique gemstones and unusual gem cuts. These stones have chunky shapes and a subtle light that adds character to the jewels. It’s a feeling that is actually quite rare in High Jewelry being made today.
As for the theme of the jewels, according to Gucci the collection captures “nature’s glorious transformations through the unrelenting changing of the seasons.” I am not sure if the “unrelenting” part is referring to something like a deep freeze in New York but it sounds intense.
I suppose the Los Angeles location for the campaign was a way to incorporate the four seasons in a destination where they don’t exist in the traditional sense. I know, I am stretching.
Allegories and weather reports aside, what the images of Daria in the Gucci jewelry and nothing else at the Chateau really captures is the sense of historic glamour found in the gemstones that parallels the location.
The 95-year-old Chateau has long been a favorite destination of luminaries. From the silver screen era to contemporary times, movies stars ranging from Katherine Hepburn to Keanu Reeves have taken up extended residence at the Chateau.
Anthony Kiedis, the Red Hot Chili Pepper’s front man who stayed at the Chateau in 2001 while recording the By The Way album described the place as “soulful.” And that’s the mood that is captured in the new campaign to perfection.
Related Stories:
Gucci’s Grand Tour Jewels Travel Through Time
Anna Maccieri Rossi’s Jewelry Is About Time
Lady Gaga Wears Bvlgari in ‘House of Gucci’
Get a gem in your mailbox SIGN UP FOR THE ADVENTURINE NEWSLETTER
