Black Book: the latest from Balenciaga, Arnold & Son, Dries Van Noten and Pomellato

This week's guide to the finer things in life

Balenciaga continues its rabble rousing. Photo Balenciaga

Every week The National's Luxury magazine team will compile Black Book, a cheat sheet of the most interesting and noteworthy arrivals in fashion, watches and jewellery.

Balenciaga

The Spanish house of Balenciaga continues its rabble-rousing with the release of new 3XL trainers. Scaled up to three times the normal proportion, these are a bulbous new take on high-performance footwear, with technical elements such as mesh and ergonomic lines welded to a new, super wide shoe. Deliberately vast, and with shoelaces that wrap around the toe, these are the latest offering from a house that provokes questions about our never-ending addiction to trends.

The 3XL trainer by Balenciaga. Photo: Balenciaga

Arnold & Son

Swiss watchmaker Arnold & Son has unveiled a new dial material as part of its Double Tourbillion Collection timepieces. Founded in 1764, the company has centuries of watchmaking heritage, that comes together in this new piece.

Previous versions had dials cut from malachite, imperial jade and aventurine, but now the watchmaker has turned to fossilised Baltic amber. Also called Tiger amber, Baltic amber is 44 million years old and is creamy rather than clear. Naturally shifting through different colours, Arnold & Son has selected a rich moire yellow for the dial, in an elegant twist on the expected.

Double Tourbillion watch with Baltic Amber dial by Arnold & Son. Photo: Arnold & Son

Dries Van Noten

Known for its pattern clashing and colour mixing, Dries Van Noten has introduced new, colourful additions to its lipstick collection. With 30 colours to choose from – from an inky lilac tone called Digital Violet to a sheer tone named Silent Nude – these lipsticks come in refillable cases, with two new limited edition ones to pick from: Amethyst Shadow and Amber Jungle.

New limited edition lipstick cases, by Dries Van Noten. Photo: Dries Van Noten

Pomellato

The Italian house of Pomellato is doubling down on its Milanese goldsmith expertise with new elements added to its Iconica line of jewellery. Imbued with Pomellato’s unique design philosophy, the Iconica line has been expanded to include bold bracelets and necklaces. They come in pink gold and studded with star, triangle, teardrop and square-shaped white diamonds.

New Iconica bracelets by Pomellato. Photo: Pomellato

Find our monthly version of Black Book in the print edition of Luxury magazine, out on September 12 with a copy of The National.