The Parisian jeweler draws inspiration from mechanics, stars and magic.
Elie Top is one of Paris’s most intriguing and acclaimed jewelry designers. Tall and elegant, he is as unassuming as he is charismatic. This might seem incongruous, yet the surprising duality makes the man as interesting as the jewels he creates.
Picturing success
Top has always drawn, with his colored pencils accompanying him since childhood. Initially, he sketched castles, then gardens. At age 13, he even wrote to Christian Lacroix, telling him that he admired his pen strokes, and sending him his own work. The designer answered and encouraged him on his journey. At 17, Top joined the haute couture syndicate Chambre Syndicale de la Couture in Paris, followed by a position at Yves Saint-Laurent. After meeting fashion designer Alber Elbaz — then creative director of Lanvin — Top spent 15 years at the French house. In 2015, after a long career imagining jewels and accessories for others, he decided to launch his own label. Elie Top Jewelry was born.
He was 20 when he truly discovered precious jewelry through the eyes of Clare Saint, the legendary YSL press-relations manager who is an avid lover of Boivin and Belperron. Top then explored the world of Jean Després, one of his favorite designers.
At the Top of his game
His passion for blueprints and geometry is reflected in his architecture-inspired pieces, where no detail is left to chance. The designer’s love for the mechanical characterizes his creations. This is his signature style: jewels that can be opened or closed, revealing or hiding details and weaving an intimate link between the piece and its wearer.
Top designs out-of-this-world collections that tell stories of stars and magic, like a parallel universe where cosmic and medieval inspirations combine. Sirius, La dame du lac and Cosmogonie secrète are among his latest collections. When asked about his favorite design, he points to the Etoile Mystérieuse pendant — one of the most complex pieces his jewelers have created.
A few months ago, he was a guest of Sotheby’s, where he curated the first 30 lots of the April Paris Joaillerie catalogue, celebrating the Retro style represented in vibrant gold and diamond jewels.
As for the future, he will be launching a radical new collection in the coming months, with further projects in the pipeline. Because fortune favors the brave!
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