A newly-engaged Phoebe Dynevor dazzled Saint-Tropez – with a little help from some major jewellery

“I feel very glamorous,” says the actor Phoebe Dynevor dramatically, with a gentle laugh. “I never really grew up seeing my mum wearing much jewellery, so it has always felt like a really special thing to me.” We are at a gala dinner at the Château Saint-Maur in Saint-Tropez, celebrating the unveiling of Louis Vuitton’s new high jewellery collection, called Awakened Hands, Awakened Minds. It’s the sixth collection designed by Francesca Amfitheatrof, Louis Vuitton’s revered artistic director of watches and jewellery, who has been in position since 2018.

Earlier in the evening, the newly engaged Dynevor – dressed in a cream woven crochet silk and wool dress from Louis Vuitton’s autumn/winter 2024 collection paired with a white gold, platinum, diamond and emerald Liberty necklace and earrings – sat next to her fiancé, the actor Cameron Fuller, and Amfitheatrof to watch an exclusive runway show, for which models had been adorned in the exquisite jewellery pieces and bejewelled gowns, created specifically for the occasion by Louis Vuitton’s artistic director of womenswear, Nicolas Ghesquière.

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“I love how Nicolas always likes to empower a woman,” enthuses Dynevor. “He’s always looking for ways that are all about strengthening women and making them feel…” She pauses thoughtfully, searching for the right word. “Essentially, his designs and Francesca’s are less about sex appeal, and so much more about armour and embodying a character. A strong character."

Of course, playing strong characters is slowly but surely becoming Dynevor’s raison d’être. After rising to prominence with her breakout role as Daphne in Shonda Rhimes’s Regency blockbuster Bridgerton, she left in order to appear in the psychological thriller Fair Play. While Dynevor acknowledges the “beautiful lift” the Netflix mega-hit gave her, she has no regrets about leaving at the height of its popularity. “I think when you’re drawn to a script, which I was with Fair Play, you just have that moment where you think, ‘This is my next job.’ And that was really exciting. Yes, it felt so different from Bridgerton, but both the script and the character, Emily, meant so much to me. It was like this mish-mash of all the things I came into the industry to do. Seeing people’s reaction to it… that was a very special moment in my career that I’m really proud of.”

In the couple of years she has held her role as a Louis Vuitton ambassador, this is the first time Dynevor has attended the unveiling of a high jewellery collection – and she got to see it up close and personal the day before the show. “There was this big pink champagne diamond,” she says, her eyes widening. “I have never seen anything like it. And Francesca is incredible. Hearing her speak about the collection and everything that goes into it is just amazing,” she says.

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“Awakened hands, Awakened Minds sounds a little bit cryptic,” Amfitheatrof concedes with a smile. “But,” she explains, “it is inspired by a time in 19th-century France when there was an explosion of incredible talent. The ateliers were set free post the revolutions, the guilds were abolished and there was this enormous growth of the French know-how, a savoir faire. This is where luxury began. Everyone turned to France to come and see this incredible awakening of the hands.”

The Awakening Minds element of the collection, meanwhile, is a nod to the second half of the 19th-century, when there was a growth of invention and discovery. “It happened in science, it happened in engineering, it happened in architecture and Paris became the city of lights – it was the first city in Europe to have both gas lights and electric lights,” says the jewellery designer. “It was the centre of the world.”

With Paris set to host the 2024 Olympic Games, it’s fitting that France should be woven so intricately into the collection. The homage is particularly overt in some pieces: the Victoire necklace, for instance, is an ode to the Eiffel Tower. “I’ve never really thought of jewellery as architecture, but this piece was so architecturally strong that I was so blown away by it,” says Dynevor. This resonance, she admits, is also linked to one of her own favourite memories of Paris. “This might sound really silly, but I didn’t realise that the Eiffel Tower sparkled all the time at night. Then, on the night I attended my first Louis Vuitton show, I was in a car on my own and we went past the Eiffel Tower. It was just after the world had opened up again [post Covid], and I remember looking at it and thinking, ‘Ah, life is back and it’s crazy and it’s so sparkly and it’s so magical.”

It’s a feeling she connects to the jewellery she chose to wear tonight. “I really love minimalist pieces, and am drawn to things that have a daintiness to them. Also, because I’m wearing nudes and neutrals, I felt the emerald green would add a pop of colour.”

It’s now almost 11.30pm and the evening is drawing to a close. The balmy but breezy temperature of earlier has dropped and Dynevor looks around the room, her shoulders now ensconced in a Vuitton cashmere shawl. “It’s kinda amazing being here, isn’t it? In a vineyard, in Saint-Tropez, with this beautiful collection…” Her eyes sparkle as she strokes her necklace and earrings in turn. “And,” she adds laughing, “tonight has also been a great way to people watch.”