Our Personal Shopper reveals Chanel Jewelry Collection

Chanel presented its new line of haute joaillerie on the occasion of haute couture week, which officially wraps up in Paris on Friday, July 5. All of the pieces in the French luxury house’s new collection were designed around the theme of the lion, symbol of Venice, the City of the Doges, a location very dear to Gabrielle Chanel. Leo was also the zodiac sign of the Chanel founder.

The “Sous le signe du Lion” jewelry collection includes 58 pieces inspired by Gabrielle Chanel’s ‘spirit animal,’ expertly and creatively translated into wearable luxury by Chanel’s fine jewelry department.

The “Lion Royal” set, the collection’s most emblematic piece, is made of platinum, white gold and diamonds. Composed of a transformable diamond necklace, the piece can be worn as either a chain or a short necklace. The central element is a lion’s head, which can be turned into a brooch.

Every piece in the collection includes a version of Gabrielle Chanel’s lion on it. The “Lion Céleste” brooch, in white gold and diamonds, is based on Venice’s lion motif, while the “Constellation du Lion” brooch and pendant earrings link this king of animals to the comet.

Chanel also chose to pay tribute to the lion of St Mark’s Basilica in Venice with the “Lion San Marco” gold and platinum ring, topped with a lion sculpted in lapis lazuli and a white and yellow diamond-studded star. Only five specimens of the ring will be available.

Jewelry sets, necklaces, brooches and pendant earrings with diamonds, white gold, sapphires, topaz and platinum complete this precious collection.

From Your Personal Shopper in Paris: Excellent performance for LVMH in 2012

LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, the world’s leading luxury products group, recorded revenue of €28.1 billion in 2012, an increase of 19% compared to 2011. This includes the integration of Bulgari as of June 30, 2011. Organic revenue growth was 9%. All business groups saw excellent momentum in Europe, Asia and the United States. Louis Vuitton, in particular, once again recorded double-digit revenue growth during the year.

Revenue increased by 12% in the fourth quarter, compared to the same period in 2011, with organic revenue growth of 8%. The last quarter saw a modest increase in growth compared to the third quarter of 2012.

Profit from recurring operations increased by 13% to €5 921 million, a performance which is even more remarkable when compared to the strong growth in 2011. Current operating margin was 21% in 2012. Group share of net profit was €3 424 million, an increase of 12% compared to 2011.

Bernard Arnault, Chairman and CEO of LVMH, said: “2012 was another remarkable year for LVMH, especially in the context of the economic slowdown in Europe. All of our businesses demonstrated excellent momentum driven by innovation and the quality of their products, thereby strengthening their positions in traditional markets while continuing to develop in new ones. Looking beyond the appeal of our brands, it is the talent of our teams and their motivation that enables us to so effectively execute our strategy. In 2013, LVMH intends to further strengthen its global leadership position in high quality products by relying on its sound, long-term strategy.”

Wines & Spirits: strong growth in vintages and prestige qualities

The Wines & Spirits business group recorded organic revenue growth of 11%. Profit from recurring operations increased by 14%. Continuing the favorable trend for the wines and spirits market in 2011, demand remained strong in 2012. In addition to volume growth, improved product mix and a policy of adjusted price contributed to this excellent performance. Champagne recorded a strong performance in its rosé and prestige vintages. Sparkling and still wines from Estates & Wines experienced strong new growth. Hennessy cognac saw a very good year for all its qualities and in all regions. Belvedere vodka enjoyed good momentum outside the U.S. while the single malt whiskeys Glenmorangie and Ardbeg recorded rapid increases in their key markets. All maisons in this business group thus benefit fully from their value enhancing strategy, based on the image of their brands and the strength of their distribution network.

Fashion & Leather Goods: excellent performance from Louis Vuitton and other brands

The Fashion & Leather Goods business group recorded organic revenue growth of 7% in 2012. Profit from recurring operations increased by 6%. Louis Vuitton, which had another record year, increased its lead over other artisanal brands of leather goods. With double-digit revenue growth, Louis Vuitton maintained its historic strategy based on the extraordinary quality of its products and its excellent distribution. The Maison continues to record an exceptional level of profitability in a context of sustained investment dedicated to strengthening its savoir-faire. The opening of its first dedicated jewelry boutique complete with its first Haute Joaillerie workshop at Place Vendôme in Paris and the reopening of the Maison Louis Vuitton in Shanghai are among the highlights of the year. Fendi continued the qualitative expansion of its distribution network. Its iconic handbag Baguette experienced a record year on its 15th anniversary. As the brand continues to strengthen its identity, Céline showed excellent performance in all its products and in all geographic areas. The performance of the other fashion brands continued to improve.

Perfumes & Cosmetics: excellent momentum

The Perfumes & Cosmetics business group recorded organic revenue growth of 8%. Profit from recurring operations increased by 17%. Parfums Christian Dior saw excellent performance driven by the strength of flagship lines, notably Miss Dior and J’adore. Dior Addict Lipstick confirmed its leadership position in its main markets and the skin care line Prestige continued its sustained growth. Guerlain continued to see strong growth momentum attributed notably to the performance of its new fragrance La Petite Robe Noire. Parfums Givenchy saw strong growth in its makeup line due to broader distribution and the success of its mascara Noir Couture. Benefit, Make Up For Ever and Fresh continued their strong growth.

Watches & Jewelry: strong progress in iconic lines and development of industrial capacity

The Watches & Jewelry business group recorded organic revenue growth of 6% in 2012. Profit from recurring operations rose 26% notably due the performance of Bulgari, consolidated as of 30 June 2011. LVMH watch brands experienced good momentum supported by many innovations and the excellent performance of their iconic models Carrera by TAG Heuer, King Power by Hublot and El Primero by Zenith. In Jewelry, Bulgari confirmed the success of its Serpenti and B.Zerol collections, enriched by new creations, and reinforced the quality of its distribution. Chaumet and Fred continue to develop their star collections.

Selective Retailing: rapid growth thanks to its innovative product and service offering

The Selective Retailing business group recorded organic revenue growth of 14% in 2012. Profit from recurring operations increased by 19%. Due to its strong commitment to the quality of its stores, DFS benefitted from momentum among Asian customers. Three major concessions were won in 2012 at Hong Kong Airport and the concession at Los Angeles Airport was renewed. The opening in Hong Kong of a third Galleria is also a key highlight of the year. Sephora continued to achieve an excellent level of performance and made market share gains across all its regions. Online revenue is growing strongly. In Europe, new stores opened for the first time in Denmark and Sweden. In the United States, the renovation of several flagship stores in New York strengthened the appeal of the brand. Sephora continued its expansion in China while accelerating the renovation of its existing network. Its first stores were opened in the high potential markets of Brazil and India.

Favorable outlook for LVMH in 2013

Despite an uncertain economic environment in Europe, LVMH is well-equipped to continue its growth momentum across all business groups in 2013. The Group will maintain a strategy focused on developing its brands by continuing to build up its savoir-faire, as well as through strong innovation and expansion in fast growing markets.

Driven by the agility of its organization, the balance of its different businesses and geographic diversity, LVMH enters 2013 with confidence and has, once again, set an objective of increasing its global leadership position in luxury goods.

From Your Personal Shopper in New York: Chopard Launches E-boutique

Chopard launched a newly designed website and its first ecommerce boutique, developed with the primary goal of increasing brand awareness. The website’s other  objectives include, driving traffic to Chopard’s stores, generating new business, sharing brand philosophy and detailed product information with consumers.

“The watch and jewelry market has changed dramatically in the past four or five years thanks in great part to the rise of social media, and we aim to be on the forefront in all realms, including luxury e-commerce,” said Marc Hruschka, the president of Chopard USA.

The website, launched today as us.chopard.com, will serve the U.S.  and act as a pilot program for other global markets. The website is designed to reach consumers in major metropolitan areas that do not have a Chopard boutique or retail partner in their region.

“In many instances in the luxury world, customers want to see and touch the watches and jewelry before they buy it,” said Hruschka. “It is already clear to us that when we enter a market with a brick-and-mortar store, where we have retail partners, they benefit from the increased awareness; the same is true of this situation. We believe that retail partners and our boutiques will benefit from the halo effect of the increased brand recognition the site will generate.”

The website provides newly written information about each piece showcased,  with new photography and approximately 650 product references will be available for purchase for prices ranging from about $100 for accessories to more than $65,000 for fine jewelry. Collections such as Happy Diamonds, Imperiale, Classic Racing, L.U.C. and haute joaillerie as well as a host of specialty pieces and exclusive limited editions, will be offered.

Chopard has five U.S. boutiques, including the recently expanded and remodeled South Coast Plaza store in Orange County, California, the remodeled Bal Harbour store in Florida and a newly opened Wynn boutique in Las Vegas. Additionally, the brand partners with dozens of top-level retail jewelry stores.

From Your Personal Shopper in Basel: HUBLOT, THE “$5 MILLION”

A world first, a unique piece, an exceptional and incredibly rare feat. And a completely different approach was used for its creation. Unlike an Haute Joaillerie piece, where the design and technical construction are created to “emphasise and serve” stones which have already been selected, the opposite approach was adopted. The diamond cutters started with a design and then found the diamonds whxich best matched the complex construction of the case, dial and bracelet. Cutters and setters then employed all of their expertise to resize them to ensure a perfect fit.

First challenge: to develop the design of the Big Bang, whilst retaining its graphic codes to ensure it cohesively integrates more than 3 carats of diamonds. Once the technical design was finalised, then the diamonds had to be found and combined. It took one year for the largest stones which came from all four corners of the world, and the same for the 1276 others. Every stone was individually selected to ensure that all were of a consistent quality and colour. They then had to be resized, one by one, to make them a perfect fit for the watch. A renowned “master cutter” from New York with over 40 years’ experience was responsible for single-handedly cutting the largest GIA-certified stones to ensure they all had the same cut “signature”.

It was a lengthy process to complete: 14 months of work for all the different disciplines combined, including 7 months’ work for 12 cutters, and the same for the 5 setters, with all the major specialists working on the piece full-time. A total of 1282 diamonds, more than 100 carats of baguette diamonds, a dazzling expression of the work of the best craftsmen in their field.

This watch can be considered as a veritable collection of diamonds. A collection of tableaux. Each was individually chosen in relation to the others to create a harmonious whole.

This is the most precious watch ever created by Hublot and its long-standing partner, Atelier Bunter in Geneva. The diamonds selected by Hublot are all of the highest quality, graded A VVS in clarity and Top Wesselton in colour.