Cartier has just reveiled Indomptables, a collection made of 7 pieces of jewelry and 3 watches revealing a series of unexpected encounters between wild animals.
With Indomptables, Cartier returns to one of its favourite themes and house’s signature: the bestiary… revisited here in the form of head-to-toe jewellery. Initiated by Jeanne Toussaint in the 1930s who was then the creative director of Cartier, she opened up the repertoire to naturalism. In the 1980s and 1990s, the bestiary welcomed other wild animals such as the zebra and the giraffe who joined the exclusive club of Cartier’s fauna, over which the mythical panther reigned unchallenged.
True to the house’s expertise, Indomptable captures these figures in realistic, powerful and graphic details giving them an instantly recognisable style. To reproduce the majesty of these animals as faithfully as possible, Cartier uses several techniques, such as paving without a claw to maximise the brilliance of the stones. The illusion diamond setting is another one, as seen particularly on the crocodile bracelet, which consists of faceting the shiny metal in the same way as the stones to create an illusion in which diamonds and metal merge. The onyx work, cut directly from the work for the zebra’s snout or the panther’s nose, gives the jewelry a very realistic look.
If tête-à-tête jewelry is so appealing, it is not only because of the technical prowess and the stunning nature of the creations, but also because they are above all playful. Cartier is not content to simply pit animals against each other; they juste have fun blurring the lines by inverting their bodies. The scales of the crocodile dress the zebra, which passes on its stripes to the panther. The girafe and the tiger exchange coats… The charm of this bestiary comes from these unexpected encounters, as Pierre Rainero, Director of Image, Style and Heritage, explains: “Animal jewelry has the capacity to reflect the personality of the wearer, his or her mood, different attitudes or character traits. It is an opportunity to deliver a message.”
