It’s an age-old fine jeweller’s delight to include hidden elements in special pieces, just as Elie Top has done with his debut collection. Pictured (right) is Top in his maison's first salon, where a 1970s Ettore Sottsass chandelier pinpoints jewels in a glass vitrine built into the lacqured anthracite-top table by Maison Darré, while the custom made carpet reflects the house's logo.
What makes Elie Top’s eponymous jewellery designs so compelling is their secret nature. It’s an age-old fine jeweller’s delight to include hidden elements in special pieces, giving the wearer a unique sense of knowing something about their jewellery that only they know and that others can’t see.
To that effect, Top’s bracelets, earrings and necklaces contain an intricately worked element. But the covert nature of his articulated designs is not subtly secret. More in keeping with the horologist’s craft, once discovered, they take the wearer and the viewer in a new direction, suggesting a story that neither could possibly know.
As Vincent Darré, designer of Top’s Rue St Honore salon, featured in our September issue (W*198) , says: 'To capture the mood of Elie’s jewellery is to realise that it has an almost metaphysical nature – like the sign of your horoscope,' he explains. 'Planets and stars and the mechanical narrative make his designs not like jewellery but often more like horology. It’ a real universe.'
What makes Top’s eponymous jewellery designs so compelling is its secret nature
To that effect, Top’s bracelets, earrings and necklaces contain an intricately worked element
But the covert nature of his articulated designs is not subtly secret. More in keeping with the horologist’s craft, once discovered, they take the wearer and the viewer in a new direction, suggesting a story that neither could possibly know
The salon's 1930s frosted glass doors provide a grand entrance to his showroom.
As Vincent Darré, designer of Top’s Rue St Honore salon, featured in our September issue (W*198) , says: 'To capture the mood of Elie’s jewellery is to realise that it has an almost metaphysical nature – like the sign of your horoscope,' he explains
'Planets and stars and the mechanical narrative make his designs not like jewellery but often more like horology. It’ a real universe,' adds Darré
Top is perhaps best known for his role as Lanvin's accessories director, single-handedly changing the way we viewed costume jewellery in the noughties
'Mécaniques Célestes' unites Top's love of costume jewellery's bold statement-making power with the intricate mechanics of exceptional fine jewellery
The creative has dedicated his first big bang to cosmogony, working with kinetic metal spheres that concealed or revealed his precious stone globes inside
These one-of-a-kind orbs are then circled by a star galaxy of diamonds, fusing the geometric and Baroque
-
Bottega for Bottegas 2025 invites artisans to reinterpret the ritual of the aperitivoThe annual initiative showcases makers and creatives who share Bottega Veneta’s dedication to craft. This year’s objects come together as an exquisite, modern still life
-
Caligra launches its c100 Developer Terminal, a stripped-back machine for serious computingPentagram’s Jon Marshall has collaborated with computing start-up Caligra to shape its sleek but serious desktop and mouse
-
A 1970s brutalist icon becomes Tbilisi’s most striking new hotelNeri&Hu transforms a Soviet-era post office into the Georgian capital’s anticipated Telegraph Hotel
-
All eyes on Greek jewellery brand Lito as it launches bold new amulets to mark its 25 yearsStriking amulets, seductive stones and secret messages characterise Lito's striking new anniversary collection, an extension of its ‘Tu es Partout’ series
-
The best layering necklaces for an elevated yet casual lookHow to mix, match and stack jewellery for the ultimate high-energy, low-effort style
-
Late summer jewels: what to wear at Golden HourLate summer signals a jewellery style-shift. These independent designers have got it covered
-
Jewellery designers share their most precious personal piecesA host of jewellers give us a peek at the jewellery which brings them joy and solace
-
Hair jewellery to covet and collectToday’s hair jewellery is both practical and pretty. We're pinning our hopes on these simple and elegant accessories
-
Andreas Kronthaler’s costume jewellery for Vivienne Westwood is fun, flirty and fabulousAndreas Kronthaler’s new jewellery draws on romantic and theatrical motifs
-
Fope’s flexible gold chains rethink a classic designElasticity meets elegance in Fope’s new jewellery collection, ‘Luna’
-
Get personal with Bea Bongiasca’s colourful initial necklaces in enamelBea Bongiasca’s ‘B Colour’ collection of initial necklaces brings a chic modernity to personalised jewellery
