TRANSCENDING SENSES
CARTIER unveils the Sixième Sens par Cartier collection, an emotive exploration of light and motion through thousandyear-old stones, writes
Cartier unveils the Sixième Sens par Cartier collection, an emotive exploration of light and motion through thousand-year-old stones
The Sixième Sens par Cartier collection is here to remind us that Cartier’s artisans and master gemologists remain spiritually in tune with their art form, paving a shimmering path to a new realm of consciousness. The collection comprises two rings and five necklaces, each distinctly unique from the next.
As ambassador to Sixième Sens par Cartier and friend of the maison, Iranian actress-musician Golshifteh Farahani guides us through the inspired high jewellery collection with sinuous ease. The accomplished starlet-musician captures the essence of the sublime series with her feminine grace while reflecting the multi-faceted nature of the jewellery that draws inspiration from a diverse and multicultural heritage.
Precious stones define organic textures as shards of coloured light meld in a series of stylised feline and geometrical interpretations. “Sixiéme Sens is a type of emotion that cannot link to one of the five senses. There is something that touches you, and that is uncontrollable, a kind of brilliance linked to the vision of the piece once worn, hence the aspirational work around the creation of illusion and maximum play with light,” explains Pierre Rainero, Image, Style and Heritage Director of Cartier International.
The series begins with the regal Phaan Ring pulling focus onto an 8.20 carat ruby of rare vitality at the heart of the creation. The tiered construct fits a 4.01-carat rose-cut diamond beneath the magnificent stone that sits raised above. As light filters through the ruby and onto the diamond, it breaks and refracts at different angles. The illusion sets the ruby ablaze, intensifying its fiery hue.
The inconspicuous setting also integrates triangular diamonds that artfully surround the pinkish-red gem, further enhanced by the flourish of tiny ruby balls. Despite the complexity of blending stones of different sizes and hues, the ring maintains a magical appearance full of depth and airiness.
Next, the Parhelia Ring boasts frosty elegance, casting a 21.51-carat sapphire cabochon in the spotlight. The gem is flanked by five parentheses of radiant diamonds and emeralds at each side, fanning out like glittering waves crashing against a shoreline. The combination of sapphires and emeralds, dubbed the “peacock motif ” by Louise Cartier, is a recognisable homage to House codes. The width of the ring spans three fingers and may detach to wear as a brooch.
To Cartier, the panther is a symbol of fierce and independent femininity. The Pixelage Necklace captures this wild-hearted spirit through a stylised play on the feline’s pelt. Polished onyxes scatter throughout white, yellow, and orange diamonds, framing three golden topazes totalling 27.34 carats.
“It’s these three topazes together that inspired the shape of the necklace, and even the design itself, by which I mean the idea of linking it to these warm colours that evoke a feline. It is indeed very Cartier as wild animals are a creative motif very dear to the Maison,” Pierre Rainero reveals.
Where fauna thrives, so too must flora. The Alaxoa Necklace hypnotises with its verdant visage of cascading emeralds. Fascinatingly supple in its construct, the seemingly living collier reflects Cartier’s savoir-faire as artisan jewellers arrange emeralds according to their colour and diameter. These stones link through a threading technique that relies on a wire to form strands and fringes. The construction connects by tiny metal bridges, maintaining a fan shape while allowing these fringes to retain mobility.
The Sharkara Necklace combines tourmalines and coloured sapphires in an array of pink hues, offset by bright orange garnets and white diamonds. The shades seem to derive from nature as the construct of the piece calls to mind succulent berries on the vine, kissed by summer dew.
A celebration of the beauty of diamonds, the Coruscant Necklace features stones with a mix of six different cuts that include kite, octagonal, emerald, triangle, baguette and brilliant. Each precious gem certified D-IF and E-IF reflect light brilliantly. The Coruscant Necklace expresses graphic, geometric form and rhythm. The chain resembles a tight braid of gemstones that directs a path of light to the trio of diamonds – a kite of 3.00 carats, an octagon of 1.62 carats and an emerald of 1.54 carats.
Finally, the Meride Necklace combines diamonds, onyx and rock crystal in a mosaic that defines a hypnotic checkerboard motif. Reversing the unique piece reveals a motif that is a perfect reversal of the front.
“Inspired by the effects of mirroring, this trompe-l’oeil necklace plays with materials. The onyx and its graphic black. The diamond and its radiance. The rock crystal and its transparency. Full and empty, clarity and shadow, polished mirror in precious metals. This necklace has an entire labyrinth for the eyes. Eyes are fooled, and perspective is warped,” Jacqueline Karachi, Director of Cartier’s High Jewellery Creation Studio, observes.
For Cartier, everything starts with the stone. “The encounter with a stone is a magical moment full of emotions that moves and delights us,” Jacqueline Karachi adds. Undoubtedly, the Sixième Sens par Cartier collection comes alive against the skin, transporting beholders to another blissfully vivid world.