The metaverse redraws the contours of luxury

As journalist Claire Beghin recently explained in our pages: “The future has never seemed so close. No offense to those for whom virtual worlds are still science fiction, we could very soon leave the mainland behind and explore the digital confines of the metaverse, these worlds inside the world, potentially limitless and accessible via virtual reality headsets. This network of territories housed on the Internet where everyone evolves in the form of an avatar and where you can already do your shopping, buy clothes or attend concerts. A virtuality that is very present today in the world of luxury – think of Sotheby's Metaverse or Gucci and its virtual sneakers. If jewellery still seems somewhat hesitant in the face of this new market, it is without counting on the jewellery house PLACE VENDÔME founded in 2016 by Eva and Jonathan Ichai. In addition to having appropriated the name of the most legendary place in fine jewellery, the couple decided to jump the digital barriers and make it their second home.

In the Parisian premises of this luxury start-up, nothing works like elsewhere. We thus meet creative people halfway between the geek and the designer of fine jewelry, a subtle and rare marriage of skills whose goal is to make projects very impactful and at the same time ephemeral, in order to arouse constant interest and a continued craving. “3D and virtual environments have always been our core business, explains Jonathan Ichai, because they make it possible to produce collections quickly and on demand, barely emerging from the imagination of their creators. Then, the web audience is the best market research one could hope for, because it reflects in real time the level of public interest for a very recent creation.” This is how, at the supersonic speed of the networks, the house's best-sellers were born, including this ring worn by the famous Lena Situations, as soon as it left the workshop, and these earrings made famous by the influencer Carla Ginola. Or even this mini handbag that Iris Mittenaere no longer wants to leave.

The PLACE VENDÔME jewellery house is renowned for the beauty of its stones. Eva Ichai has an absolute knowledge of exceptional gems, acquired between Antwerp and New York. Jonathan is an engineer by training and a creator of start-ups at heart. Their meeting gave birth to the PLACE VENDÔME brand, convinced as they were that jewelry and digital were perfectly compatible. “Today, our customers come from all over the world, says Eva, quite simply because they have exactly the same experience as our French customers. It's a new way of exporting oneself to a universe freed from so many spatial constraints.”