The Parfum Collection

In advance of the launch we sat down with our founder Laura Vann for a sneak peek and to learn more about her inspiration behind this year’s collection.

CAN YOU TELL US A LITTLE ABOUT THE JEWELLERY DESIGN PROCESS FOR PARFUM?

When dreaming up our collection for 2021, I wanted to focus on the eternal importance of human connection. As I looked to our timeless Daphne design for inspiration I saw a resemblance between its bottle shape silhouette and vintage perfume vials. At that moment I was transported back to my mum’s bedroom and the memory of her glass dressing table, adorned with ornate perfume bottles that I would puff and play with - spraying her sweet powdery scent around the room. I realised that few things have the ability to evoke memories of the ones we love like scent and jewellery, and so the jewellery designs of the Parfum collection seek to unite these two entities in order to capture nostalgia and treasured moments of the past.

WE’VE ALREADY SPOTTED THE NEW GEMSTONE JEWELLERY OPTIONS (AND MENTALLY ADDED THEM ALL TO OUR WISHLIST), WHAT OTHER TYPE OF JEWELS CAN WE EXPECT TO SEE IN PARFUM? 

Inspired by vintage perfume bottles, the new collection features glass engravable pendants, intricately ridged hoops that emulate ornate cut glass and our first use of baroque pearl that mirrors the playfulness of a perfume puffer! After the popularity of our Forever gypsy rings, we’ve expanded our gemstone jewellery options with more colourful gypsy rings, perfect for stacking rings together, and also chubby gypsy hoops which have a wonderfully 80’s feel (just like my mum’s Kate Bush vibe all those years ago)!

WHAT MADE YOU DECIDE TO EXPAND THE COLLECTION OF ENGRAVABLE JEWELLERY?

The notion of jewellery telling a story comes hand-in-hand with the ethos of the Parfum collection and our ever expanding collection of engravable jewellery allows you to personalise your jewels and express yourself literally, with our complimentary hand engraving (thanks to the skilled hands of Tim Vann!) allowing you to put your own mark on them. 

To further this idea of self expression and take our offering of Parfum jewels to a new sensory level, we have also decided to collaborate with Berlin based brand Apotheke Perfumes, founded by ex Net-a-Porter Editor Jessica Hannan. Just as Parfum focuses on the relationship between jewellery and memories of those we love, Apotheke is founded on a psychological and emotional approach to scent which made them the perfect brand to unite with for this collection. The tissue paper in each order from the Parfum collection will be sprayed with one of Apotheke’s four unique scents and if you like what you smell, you can shop the scents on the V site. You can either pick your perfume based on the scent profiles and your own self-knowledge, or you can take the tarot-style personality quiz on apothekeperfume.com and find out the scent of your own personality. 

WE’VE ALREADY PICKED OUT THE GLASS GOLD CIRCLE NECKLACE AS THE NEWEST EDITION TO OUR NECKLACE STACK, WHAT ARE SOME OF YOUR FAVOURITE PIECES FROM THE NEW COLLECTION? 

Something that is really important to me is slowing down the constant newness that is a trademark of fast fashion brands, we encourage people to refresh rather than replace their jewels and to make considered choices, buying jewels they truly love and plan to keep in their lives forever.  I think that our glass gold circle necklaces are the perfect example of teaming with jewels old and new to enhance your curated necklace collection. Everyone loves a new addition to their collection, but this doesn’t mean your older jewels have to sacrifice their spot to make way for the new girls on the block. We couldn’t even bring ourselves to leave behind our older favourites for the Parfum shoot, which is why you might see our gold rope chains or our favourite Heavy Vintage Link Chain alongside our new gold circle necklaces in a lot of the new campaign shots. 

 

IS PARFUM AS ANTI-FAST FASHION AS THE PREVIOUS ‘FOREVER’ AND ‘KEEP’ COLLECTIONS?

Producing responsibly will always remain core to everything we do at V and it is also central in the messaging behind the new collection. Jewellery, like perfume, goes beyond something to wear only now and then. When you fall in love with a piece of forever jewellery you keep it on so often that it becomes an extension of you, like a second skin. Just like when you smell a scent and it takes you right back to all the moments that specific scent has punctuated, jewels are able to take you back to the special moments you have formed while wearing them.

Jewellery is able to evoke your dearest memories because they were a part of them. These are the types of connections that can only be formed with pieces you cherish for a really long time. And when you love your jewels and keep them close to you in so many important moments of your life, you never want to replace them, or forget the memories they marked.

I hope you love our Parfum jewels and all they represent,


Laura