WORLD WONDER

TO REALISE ITS LATEST HIGH JEWELLERY COLLECTION, BEAUTÉS DU MONDE, CARTIER HAS COMBED THE EARTH TO DISCOVER MAGNIFICENCE FROM UNEXPECTED SOURCES AND BEAUTY AMID UNPREDICTABILITY, SAYS THE MAISON'S DIRECTOR OF IMAGE, STYLE AND PATRIMONY, PIERRE RAINERO

- ZARA ZHUANG

Development of Cartier's latest high jewellery collection, titled Beautés du Monde, began some two years ago, around the same time the world was going through upheaval. And though world events had no direct influence on the direction of the collection, there was perhaps some unconscious connection between them, says Cartier's Director of Image, Style and Patrimony, Pierre Rainero.

"The idea to focus on what is beautiful in periods of instability or doubt is a way of looking for what is permanent and what creates a link between human beings," he says. "I think probably there was such an aspect in this collection."

Cartier went on a search for beauty during uncertain times, and find beauty it did. From vast landscapes to microscopic features, from antiquity to timeless geological formations, a wealth of sources was drawn from to create a transcendent range of jewels that encapsulate the breadth of the universe's marvels and exemplify the Maison's command of design and artisanship. And the house brought the sumptuous high jewellery necklaces, brooches, earrings, rings and bracelets to life through splendid precious stones, including opals from Australia, orange sapphires from East Africa, and emeralds from Zambia and Colombia.

Inspiration for the jewellery includes water lilies, coral reef atolls, iguanas, vipers and even traditional Mesoamerican jewellery. Cartier has traditionally looked to nature specifically flora and fauna for inspiration, Rainero explains, but in Beautés du Monde, the Maison enriched that interpretation by exploring realms from landscapes to human culture.