About BIJOUXreview.com

By Kyle Roderick, Founder & Editor

 

I founded BIJOUXreview.com to showcase high luxury jewels, also known as haute luxe jewelry, and to redefine this important realm for jewelry lovers and high net worth individuals. BIJOUXreview.com reports on designers, global brands, boutiques, estate jewelers and auctioneers who create, buy and/or sell the best in global high luxury jewels. Discerning, highly informative and filled with actionable product information, BIJOUXreview.com, only covers jewelry that is:

 

1) Distinctive, design-driven; produced as bespoke or one-of-a-kind pieces, or in limited editions.

2) Made of high grade, rare and/or unusually striking materials.

3) Hand-fabricated with fine craftsmanship techniques that are inspired by, or elaborate upon, artisanal jewelry traditions.

4) More valuable than its material worth initially suggests.

5) These jewels contribute to the narrative of jewelry history.

  

Some of the innovative global and haute luxe brands that BIJOUXreview.com reports on include:  Cartier, Alice Cicolini, Chopard, Nicholas Varney Jewels, Pippa Small, Tony Duquette, Repossi, etc. Some of these designers push the boundaries of jewelry design while also working with Fair Trade-certified gold and conflict-free; ethically sourced diamonds and other gemstones. BIJOUXreview.com also covers those who design and produce haute luxe fashion jewelry and watches, such as Loulou de la Falaise, Givenchy, Prada, etc. as well as online retailers who sell these bijoux.

 

It’s clear to many of us who work with bijoux that most people, through no fault of their own, cannot distinguish between luxury jewels and jewelry that has merely been branded as such.

 

Indeed, “luxury” is a marketing buzzword, and it’s used by companies to brand jewelry that has been designed to appeal to millions of aspirational consumers.

 

Manufacturers and marketers know that most of us 99 per centers have zero idea of what differentiates bijoux of rare design, fine materials and superb craftsmanship from jewels that have been effectively branded as “luxury.”

 

What’s more, for decades, market research has indicated that most people buy jewelry labeled as luxurious because it’s an aspirational, emotional purchase.

 

Indeed, so-called “luxury” jewelry is produced in mass quantities and marketed via consumer advertising on every continent– with the same globally branded messages translated into different languages.

 

Further muddying the luxury jewelry waters is the fact that fashion magazines, both in print and online, depend on ad revenue from jewelry brands to stay in business. Thus magazines parrot jewelry advertisers’ “luxury” marketing pitches. In turn, readers who may not know any better swallow the “luxury jewelry” Kool-Aid and decide to buy.

 

BIJOUXreview.com is the only high luxury jewelry web site reporting on global brands and jewelry designers that guides high net worth individuals and others to make more satisfying jewelry purchases.

 

Ultimately, my aim is to provide entertaining reportage that enhances appreciation of high luxury jewelry while advancing knowledge through enlightening images and words.

 

Thank you for visiting and stay bejeweled.

 

 

Defining Haute Luxe Jewelry

 

BIJOUXReview.com was founded to focus on jewelry designers and firms that are selling high luxury jewelry, or what is also known as haute luxe jewelry.

 

Haute luxe, or high luxury jewelry is defined as limited edition, rare or best of all, one-of-a-kind.

 

Haute luxe or high luxury jewelry earns its heady appellation because its design, materials, workmanship, historicity or rarity render it more valuable than its material worth may initially suggest.

 

High luxury jewelry is design-driven rather than gemologically driven. It is crafted with profound technical finesse and refinement.

 

High luxury jewelry is handmade of rare materials or those of exceedingly fine quality…preferably, noble metals. But there can be exceptions.

 

What’s more, haute luxe or high luxury jewelry embodies style and substance that may run counter to current trends.  Its design and materials are distinctive, avant-garde, rare, extravagant; over-the-top…or all of the above!

 

Whether it’s an antique, 22-karat gold Turkmenistan tribal necklace or a piece from a contemporary master such as Pippa Small, high luxury jewelry is rich in cultural, aesthetic and symbolic significance.