A Visit to Dior Joaillerie in Second Life

The marvellous boingboing.net first alerted me to the existence of the Dior Joaillerie island in Second Life. I thought I was late and that the entire island would be complete, as according to a press report on Jan 15th "Dior launched its latest collection of rarified jewellery in the virtual reality of web-based Second Life...In the first such virtual launch for a French luxury house, four of the 17 pieces worth between 150,000 and 1.2 million euros will be visible 24 hours a day in [Second Life]...Online enthusiasts will need to seek out the fantasy world's Belladone Island for a peek at the extravagant jewels designed by Victoire de Castellane but will be unable to purchase any."

According to an unnamed source at Dior:"This is not a marketing project. We needed an ultra-contemporary casket" for the collection. The entire collection will be unveiled in the real world of a Paris museum in late February.

Given all that bubbub, how could I resist a visit? I was surprised to find that it is not yet anywhere near complete (as evidenced by the builders' floor tool in the pictures below). However, if you like SL particles, you will find them here a-plenty - butterflies, snow flakes, weird blue blobby stuff.


It is too early to say what the island will finally feature for the freebie-hungry denizens of Second Life... though clearly NOT a selection of cutting-edge, 21st Century jewellery that will surely be selling for shedloads of dosh in RL.


The thingy below intrigued me. It is currently an enclosed space, filled with a swarm of bees. From the shape of the builder's floor plan - I'm guessing this will metamorphose into a yacht.

Finally, while exploring I managed to get myself all tangled up in an Autumnal forest (I really must learn how to fly this avi) - and I quite liked the leaf pattern. Given the number of piccies downloaded already, I thought I might as well include it - you might like it.