Culture and nature: the beauty of the world inspires Cartier’s new High Jewellery collection
An aquatic flower, a butterfly, an ornament from long ago; the latest High Jewellery collection, Beautés du Monde, is a testament to Cartier’s sense of wonder in the diversity of beauty. A coral reef winds its way along the length of a necklace, the skin of an iguana transforms into a geometric matrix, while puzzle pieces reveal themselves in a kaleidoscopic ring. Worn by the actress Golshifteh Farahani, this collection shows how Cartier admires the world, while also enhancing it through a creative vision that is translated through design, the tension of lines, geometry and abstraction.
Seeing the beauty of the world, preserving it, and above all, enriching it, are values that have continuously influenced the Maison’s philosophy. The latest Beautés du Monde High Jewellery collection continues this tradition. It is a testament to this fascination with the diversity of beauty that is so dear to Cartier.
THE IWANA NECKLACE
Texture and dimension, it is the skin of the green iguana that inspired the Maison's design studios to create this jewellery set. It reveals its beauty through a necklace abundant with diamonds and emeralds. As is often the case with Cartier, the idea is not to imitate nature, but rather to suggest and convey an impression of it through an abstract composition.
THE WATER ASPIS NECKLACE
It is one of the most mythical creatures in the Cartier menagerie, where it instils its voluptuous charm. A powerful and hypnotic snake whose beauty and incredible flexibility Cartier enhances through this new interpretation. It is water that inspires the jeweller's choice of blue and white, the colours of sea foam and the sea bed where this oceanic reptile resides.
A CAPSULE COLLECTION CONSISTING OF SEVEN RINGS
They are all inspired by the beauty of the world. Seven rings that take the eye on a journey from the depths of the sea to the far reaches of the sky. Each of them concentrates the extraordinary creativity of the universe, on their own scale and as if in miniature. A carapace from a drawing in an old biology book; a chimera, Homer's mythological creature; an ammonite fossil; a sea monster; a constellation; a geological crystallisation; a Chinese puzzle... These treasures form this extraordinary collection of jewellery curiosities.
THE RITUAL NECKLACE
With this set, Cartier pays tribute to the beauty of embellishments and, more specifically, to traditional Mesoamerican jewellery. Composed of a double row of azure chalcedony beads, the necklace unfolds to showcase an iridescent constellation of rubies. Subtle and delicate, the patterns alternate between diamond cones and faceted rubies that seem to hang without any link between them through an invisible setting.
THE NOUCHALI NECKLACE
It is the miracle of an aquatic flower, whose beauty Cartier captures. The eye is immediately captivated by the centre stone, a 10.61-carat rubellite around which diamond petals are crystallised and outlined with lacquer, amplifying the impression of volume. All are geometrically shaped like a quadrilateral.
THE RÉCIF NECKLACE
The nature and vivacity of coral are what Cartier wanted to capture through the composition of the Récif necklace. A living material, somewhere between fauna and flora, whose appearance Cartier stylises in the form of ribbed coral beads snaking along a diamond atoll. The rhythm is set by the intense chromatic contrast of orange and green and enhanced by the twisted movement, while small touches of amethyst add depth.
THE APORIA NECKLACE
For this set, Cartier interprets a naturalistic motif: the butterfly. The insect's wing – as if observed from up close – is fragmented and multiplied into a completely abstract composition. The design is a play on the different possibilities offered by this single motif. In a colour scheme that has been dear to the Maison for more than a century, touches of onyx and rubellite underscore the balance of the whole and add depth. They give rhythm to the design's musicality and reveal all its graphic strength.
THE APATURA NECKLACE
Take a close look at a butterfly wing, let yourself be dazzled by the beauty of its shades, and imagine an embellishment that would reflect its iridescent beauty. This necklace was born from the observation of the infinitely small. Here, it is not a question of reproducing in a figurative way, but of suggesting through an abstract composition, a display of shimmering colours that evoke the idea of the most delicate insect.
