Alastair Meiklejon, Senior Valuer
This week marks the long awaited (for me at least) release of The House of Gucci on streaming services around the world. The Cinema release was of course one of those impacted by the pandemic, but thankfully not to the same degree as No Time to Die but realistically, nothing could be that delayed.
The film tells the story of Patrizia Reggiani and her downfall as the long-suffering wife of Maurizio Gucci, part of the much fabled and respected fashion house. Whilst the film takes some interesting turns and slight elaborations on history, what cannot be debated is the importance the house has in the world of fashion – be that in couture, handbags and even jewellery.
There are some things the Italians just do better; fashion, wine, and arguably cars (if you have read my article on Alfa Romeo, then you will understand my thoughts on this subject) and some of the classic designs in the handbag world have evolved from the house.
My personal favourite must be the 1947 Bamboo model, with perfect proportions and the daintiest outline. In a tan calf leather, it can be matched with anything, be it dressed up or down – as comfortable at dinner, as it is at the polo.
The great thing about Gucci, is that it sits at an affordable level, it doesn’t try to be Hermes, nor would it want to, the pieces are unique and instantly identifiable whilst maintaining a mid-level price, and for years have been very affordable, this however has changed in the last three years when the inevitable price increases have hit every fashion house, with Gucci being amongst Chanel, Hermes and Louis Vuitton seeing an almost 25% uplift
in replacement values.
The jewellery that Gucci produces is always bombastic and designed to create (and usually divide) opinions, its sits in a position that knows its place – whilst not high end it is good quality and more about design than its components, and over the years they have produced some stunning pieces, again my favourite pieces are a pair of 1970s silver cufflinks that are simply the definition of Milan in the era, not subtle but with enough flair to
get away with it.
With a lot of ‘fashion jewellery’ it sometimes is relegated to the bottom of the jewellery box along with Chanel and Dior pieces, however again with the price increases we are constantly seeing, perhaps it needs to be looked at in more depth – with the respect it deserves.
