Force of NATURE

With 36 high-jewellery pieces and two high-jewellery objects in the second chapter of its Nature Sauvage collection, Cartier emerged in Shanghai in the company of a panther’s share of precious creations. Post presentation, Director of Cartier’s Haute Joaillerie Workshops, Alexa Abitbol tells L’OFFICIEL SINGAPORE that the entire Nature Sauvage collection required a staggering 140,000 hours to complete, and reveals some of the most complex pieces that Cartier’s skilled craftsmen had to tackle

- IAN LEE

An abstract expression of crocodile scales through the careful placement of over 45 emeralds, or a naturalistic, curved wani (Japanese for "crocodile") necklace that required 2,800 hours of craftsmanship one majestic animal, two wholly different interpretations. Such is the expanse of the high jewellery creations from the second chapter of Cartier's Nature Sauvage collection.

Through 36 high jewellery pieces and two high jewellery objects, the collection, revealed in Shanghai in November 2024, exhibits bold new facets of the French Maison's bestiary think lifelike butterfly wings dotted in onyx, an articulated four-finger panther ring, the graphic Vamana necklace that has its design based on precise lines that form an elephant's face, and even a pendant that fearlessly hybridises a flower and a fighting fish. With Director of Cartier's Haute Joaillerie Workshops, Alexa Abitbol leading the way, we delve into the surprising world of Nature Sauvage and learn about the steps that go behind creations such as the Wani, Sibaya and Aquaflora necklaces of the collection.

Hi Alexa. You've been the Director of Cartier's Haute Joaillerie Workshops since 2018. What stands out most about the Nature Sauvage high jewellery collection?