I’m calling it: Bottega Veneta’s Drop earrings are the most-duped jewellery product of 2024. Up there with the perennially ripped-off double-C Chanel logo and Vivienne Westwood’s Orb studs, I’ve seen endless copy-cat versions this year – most recently on a market stall in the Midlands. There have been shameless replicas, which perfectly mimic the curvaceous teardrop shape and minimalist yet statement-making design. But, of course, nothing compares to the real thing.
Naturally, celebrity endorsements have been a catalyst for their success, but there’s a lot to be said for the ingenious appeal that lies beyond Instagram selfies taken by It-girls. First released at Matthieu Blazy’s debut autumn/winter 2022 show – right on the cusp of the “quiet luxury” movement – a collection where trompe l’oeil jeans and tank tops were rendered in leather, the Drop earrings were presented as an under-£1,000 takeaway of Blazy’s vision of luxury: logo-less, IYKYK.
Those who weren’t previously a target customer of the designer’s crafted basics could still admire (and perhaps invest in) the brand’s aesthetic via the Drop earring – or at least be inspired by what they came to represent. Sure, a lot of people also wanted them because they were Bottega Veneta, a fact that spread quickly once they flooded social feeds, but it was interesting to see a logo-less earring from a luxury house make an impact on the jewellery landscape as a whole.
The Drop earrings are reminiscent of the smooth contours of another jewellery hit of recent history: Elsa Peretti’s Bean emblem that she created for Tiffany & Co. in the 1970s – an organic, sculptural form that is today realised in silver, gold, lacquered hardwood and stones as pendants, studs, pillboxes, money clips and even a body brush. It’s a tried-and-true silhouette that continues to inspire new-guard jewellers, and makes a strong case for minimalist designs like the Drop.
In a conversation about Bottega Veneta’s first fine jewellery collection that launched last month, Blazy mentioned Brancusi in reference to the deceptively lightweight Drop. “I liked the singularity of it as an object, as well as how it would look with the clothes,” he explained to Vogue. “The idea was: just because it’s big, it doesn’t have to be heavy. You have the whole world reflected in it, like a drop of water.” The article’s author, Lynn Yaeger, also suggested “a bit of Grace Jones at Studio 54 in their combination of austerity and audacity”. Blazy “laughed in agreement”.
Various iterations have followed since their inception, including, but not limited to, hand-enamelled, 18k gold-finished sterling-silver pairs, lightweight resin and glass styles, a sterling silver, hand-enamelled dégradé-effect pair made using an electroforming technique and double-drop earrings with backs that reverse the original shape.
Hardware details that echo the now immediately-recognisable Drop silhouette can be seen across the house’s ready-to-wear lines – most recently, pinching the shoulder of a chocolate-brown dress worn by Jennifer Lawrence at the Governors Awards – which poses the question: is the Drop Bottega Veneta’s unofficial logo? As Yaeger pointed out, “what unites everything – from the jeans to the intrecciato totes to those gold teardrops – is Blazy’s insistence that nothing will bear Bottega’s signature until he is absolutely sure it is ready for prime time.” The Drop is testament to this.
