Luxury Fashion

Jack Vartanian hadn been thinking of snakes, per se, when he began working on his Spring jewelry collection, the designer explained last night at an unveiling dinner at Le Charlot on the Upper East Side. But when he happened on a Brazilian rock, striated with epidote, which he turned into a chunky, faceted cocktail ring (above left), the combination of colors got him thinking. The stone resembled nothing so much as an abstracted python skin, and from it, the 25-piece Python collection was born. (Only part Eenvoudige Trouwjurken of it was on display last night, due to a customs snafu-snakes on a plane, indeed.) The pieces pick up on the Avondjurken theme of serpents-they're prevalent in his native Brazil, Vartanian explained, where they symbolize the cycle of nature, birth and rebirth-in sapphire, black quartz, and that epidote stone. Snake heads became rings twining around fingers (above right), cuffs, earrings, and pendants, and the faceted cocktail ring found expression as a pair of dangling earrings, too. They were met with a hiss of approval by dinner guests like Zani Gugelmann, Bettina Vintage Trouwjurk Prentice, and co-hostess Kate Young. But Vartanian's best spokesperson has always been his wife, the gorgeous Brazilian model Cassia Avila. She sparkled in the new collection, looking every bit the serpentine beauty herself.

Should any of you ladies out there find yourself lacing up a pair of menswear-style oxfords today, spare a thought for Robert Clergerie. The venerable French footwear brand, which turns 30 this year, was the first to create a classic men's-style oxford for women (on a man's last, no less), and the ones Clergerie turns out today are, arguably, still the best. You can pay homage to Mr. Clergerie himself (pictured, bottom right), in fact, if your oxford-o-philia is intense enough: The shoemaker has made a rare trip to New York City and is celebrating his brand's birthday this afternoon with a f锚te at Bergdorf Goodman. A trip to the BG shoe department will confirm that Clergerie's footwear mastery is not confined to the lace-up alone. Some highlights from the Fall '10 collection include a curvilinear wedge with crisscross straps and a pair of hiking boots with a clear lug sole. Here, as a birthday tribute, a few images from the Clergerie archives.

For North and South American markets, Richard Mille has announced a new 30-piece limited edition called the RM011 Titanium Brown. It is tourneau shaped, like most Richard Mille timepieces, but a special PVD treatment on the titanium case results in a cool brown finish. The brown is highlighted by orange on the inner bezel, crown, indicators and strap.

The Richard Mille RM011 Titanium Brown timepieces features a skeletonized automatic movement, a flyback chronograph, annual calendar, 60-minute countdown timer, 12-hour totalizer, a 55-hour power reserve and Richard Mille's signature variable geometry rotor.