Vintage YSL Jewellery: A Collector's Guide

Yves Saint Laurent founded his house in 1961, having spent the previous years at Christian Dior — where he had been hired as an assistant in 1955 and became head designer when Dior died suddenly in 1957, aged fifty-two. When he established his own label he was twenty-five. The house quickly became known for what Saint Laurent himself described as his design philosophy: "I like simple dresses and crazy accessories." The jewellery, in other words, was the point.

Formal costume jewellery didn't become a structured part of the YSL offering until the 1970s. But from that moment, the house produced some of the most distinctive and collectible pieces in the French fashion jewellery canon — driven by a remarkable concentration of creative talent and a genuine belief that accessories were not an afterthought.

The makers

YSL worked with a network of specialist ateliers, each bringing a different material expertise. Understanding who made what is the key to collecting seriously in this category.

Roger Scemama was producing pieces for YSL from the early 1960s onward — among the earliest documented collaborations in the archive. His work for the house is characterised by modernity and material precision: multi-coloured glass cabochons, crystal stones, avant-garde forms. Scemama pieces signed for YSL are rare and command strong prices. The earliest examples, from the 1960s couture collections, are occasionally found through specialist dealers.

Robert Goossens worked with YSL from the 1970s onward, on the advice of Loulou de la Falaise. He had previously worked extensively with Chanel and became known at YSL as the goldsmith of the house — his speciality was rock crystal and gilt bronze, and his sculptural pieces defined the YSL aesthetic at its most ambitious. The African collection he created for the house is among the most striking in the archive.

Loulou de la Falaise joined YSL in 1972 and became, by her own account, the jewellery designer by default — she noticed one day that nobody else was doing it. She stayed for thirty years. Her influences were nature, gypsy style and tribal jewellery; her method was to mix elements that had nothing to do with each other and see what happened. She believed in wearing costume jewellery with the same intensity as fine jewellery — piling it on, layering it, never treating it as secondary. The pieces from her tenure reflect that. Gripoix verre nacré pearls and glass, Scemama wood pieces, Goossens rock crystal — she drew on all of them and imposed her own restless aesthetic across the results.

Monet began producing YSL jewellery under a licensing agreement in 1981. These pieces are larger, often colourful, and have more of a mass-produced feel than the earlier atelier work. They're legitimate vintage YSL but a different collecting proposition — readily available, accessible in price, and identifiable by a geometric texture on the reverse and, on earrings, the lever-paddle clip Monet developed.

What to look for by decade

1960s–early 1970s: The rarest and most valuable pieces. Early Scemama for YSL from the couture collections. Multi-coloured glass cabochons, crystal stones, forms that feel ahead of their time. Marks: YSL with stacked letters, Made in France. Not common — set up alerts rather than expecting to find these casually.

1970s: The golden era of YSL costume jewellery. Bold, oversized, rich in materials — gold-plated metal, baroque faux pearls, Maltese cross motifs, enamel work, large earrings. The coral collection of 1975 represents the decade at its most exuberant. Pieces from this period are marked YSL with stacked letters. Goossens begins his work here. Statement pieces marked Yves Saint Laurent Rive Gauche also appear — look for large earrings, acrylic designs and dramatic brooches.

1980s: Monet enters from 1981 with larger-scale licensed production. Earlier 80s pieces continuing the 1970s quality — chunky molded glass stones, rhinestones, enamel in geometric patterns — are the ones worth prioritising. Monet pieces are identifiable by construction as noted above. Also look for acrylic and resin pieces from this decade, which represent a different but legitimate strand of the 80s YSL aesthetic.

1990s: Logo culture arrives properly. The YSL monogram becomes more front and centre — statement cuffs, chunky chains, pieces where the brand mark is the design. Quality is solid through the decade. The later 90s produces bolder, more graphic pieces that have aged well.

Authentication and marks

The stacked YSL letters mark is used from the 1970s onward for both runway and ready-to-wear pieces. Earlier pieces may be marked Yves Saint Laurent or Yves Saint Laurent Rive Gauche. Pieces signed Roger Scemama for YSL or Robert Goossens for YSL carry a premium — look for the maker's name on the reverse alongside the house mark. Monet-produced pieces from the 1980s often carry a geometric texture on the reverse and may carry the Monet mark as well as YSL. Co-branded pieces marked Yves Saint Laurent for Carnegie, produced in the late 1970s, exist but are uncommon.

Weight and construction are reliable indicators. Genuine 1970s and early 80s YSL pieces — made in France by specialist ateliers — have a substance and quality of finish that the licensed Monet production doesn't quite match. This is visible in the hand.

What's worth collecting

Scemama-signed pieces from the 1960s and early 1970s are the most valuable and the hardest to find. Goossens-signed pieces from the 1970s and 1980s are similarly prized. Loulou de la Falaise's thirty-year tenure produced some of the best costume jewellery of the period — any well-documented piece from this era is worth serious attention.

For less specialist collectors, the 1970s enamel bracelets, baroque pearl necklaces and Maltese cross pieces offer real quality at accessible prices. The 1990s logo pieces, currently undervalued, are likely to appreciate as the decade continues its collector revival.

Saint Laurent said accessories are what turns a dress into something else. The jewellery from his house proves that was never a throwaway line.

The 1970s

The 1980s

 1990s