HEART AND HARMONY

Cartier’s latest high jewellery collection, Le Chœur des Pierres, is a meditation on how the house uses exceptional gemstones to form unique and precious compositions. PRESTIGE travelled to Saint-Tropez with the maison to discover the collection first hand.

- Words: LYNETTE KOH

The panther might be Cartier’s most iconic animal, but as its recently unveiled high jewellery collection Le Choeur des Pierres reminded us, the tiger is another big cat long favoured by the house.

Worn by Cartier global ambassador Zoe Saldaña at the global launch event held in Saint-Tropez in June, the Haryma necklace features a tiger, prowling down a flight of gemstone “steps”.

In this case, the tiger makes an appearance not just because it is part of Cartier’s time-honoured menagerie. The motif was also inspired by the necklace’s key gemstones: Five stunning orangey-brown imperial topazes weighing a total of 28.04 carats. One can see how the deep, vibrant tones of these gemstones reminded the designer of a tiger's lush coat. The cushion-cut topazes are laid out in a staircase arrangement, atop of which is the tiger's dynamic figure, depicted in white, yellow and orange diamonds as well as strips of onyx.

“The stones are the very heart of Cartier jewellery,” said Jacqueline Karachi, the brand's creative director of high jewellery. She spoke to PRESTIGE in a room within the 17th-century chateau where the new high jewellery collection was presented. The name of the collection, Le Choeur des Pierres, is a play on two French words with the same pronunciation—choeur, which means chorus; and coeur, which means heart. Pierres refers to gemstones. It’s a moniker that captures how gemstones are both central to Cartier high jewellery creation, and are used by the house in different compositions that play with various colours, cuts and volumes.

A FRENCH SOJOURN