Captured in a fleeting moment, they tell us their stories. From the pendant of a necklace, a turtle escapes to become a brooch, whilst a pink flamingo points its head towards the centre of a bush of emerald reeds.

The style is varied, free and figurative, as a snow leopard treads softly across an icecap formed of diamonds and rock crystal. This becomes even more radical and abstract under the watchful eye of the designer who, inspired by the scales of a crocodile, creates a ring with an incredible sense of architecture.

There’s a playfulness about it, a joyful game of hide-and-seek where creatures appear where you least expect them. Cartier further blurs boundaries as animals break free from their natural environment to enter new worlds. A snake splits in two to become a necklace, while its scales are transformed into an urban chessboard; meanwhile, the silhouette of a beetle emerges from a necklace with an abstract motif, reminiscent of a skyscraper.

CELESTUN, a necklace born from more than 1,000 hours of work

A familiar species in the Cartier menagerie, the pink flamingo is the subject of creations that are at once poetic and joyful, like the emblematic brooch created for the Duchess of Windsor in 1940. Through a play of materials and perspective, the long-necked bird,
with a beak enhanced by black lacquer and rose gold, takes shape within a stylised landscape. A myriad of emeralds evokes a bed of reeds, while punctuations of aquamarine recall an aquatic environment.

KOAGA MOVES WITH RHYTHM AND POWERFUL VIGOUR

You can’t help but feel its presence, it shines. Its stripes, profile, ears and muzzle are all enhanced by the precise, stylised lines of the design. The zebra, an animal dear to Cartier, holds an emerald-cut diamond and a 6.25-carat pear-shaped rubellite in its mouth. Its emblematic coat creates a graphic play of alternating onyx stripes; lines paved with brilliant- and emerald-cut diamonds allow openwork to reveal the skin.

PANTHÈRE JAILLISSANTE, A FIERCE GUARDIAN OF AN 8.63-CARAT ZAMBIAN EMERALD

The panther has been tamed and made docile enough to be handled and played with, in the form of a hybrid jewel with magnetic elegance. This fully articulated ring-bracelet adds a wild energy to even the smallest of gestures. Its suppleness, resulting from a true feat of craftsmanship, reinforces the power of an animal whose anatomy is expressed by expert sculpting. With its slender limbs, diamond coat flecked with sapphires, and emerald eyes, Cartier’s art lies in its ability to give life to this daring and original piece of  and jewellery.

MOCHELYS, APPEALING TO THE IMAGINATION

Combining surprise and creativity, a turtle is concealed within a seemingly entirely abstract necklace, enhancing an imposing 7 1.90-carat rubellite. At first, the eye cannot grasp its outline. You have to look closely to make out certain clues to its anatomy, like the roundness and volume of its shell and the detail of its scales. The game of camouflage is revealed alongside its versatility: the animal appears in its entirety, head and legs included, when detached to turn it into a brooch.

AMPHISTA, A PERFECT BALANCE BETWEEN TWO WORLDS

Sinuous and symmetrical, two reptiles snake around the neck. Side by side, their diamond scales are set with emeralds, and their heads crowned with kite diamonds. Between them are nine octagonal emeralds from Colombia totalling 14.72 carats. A hybrid composition in which the organic blends with the urban through an interplay of perfectly geometric, highly vertical motifs.