[Sur]Naturel Cartier: High Jewelry and Precious Objects

The flora, fauna and artistic feats of the maison’s latest high-jewelry collection are the subject of a stunning new volume.

In the Opheis necklace from its recent [Sur]Naturel collection, Cartier evokes the serpent’s supple movement and glittering scales in an elaborate combination of diamonds, onyx and emerald. Over a century earlier, the French maison introduced the diamond and onyx panther-spot pattern that would become one of the jeweler’s trademarks. These arresting creations are just two examples of the many animals, flowers and natural elements that Cartier’s designers and skilled artisans have imagined over the years.

A successful high-jewelry collection fulfills two missions: celebrating a maison’s rich heritage through subtle references, and pushing the boundaries of design, innovation and style. With the pieces in [Sur]Naturel Cartier: High Jewelry and Precious Objects, the company is adding a new chapter to its gem-set exploration of nature-inspired jewels. This sumptuous book puts the contemporary collection in the context of Cartier’s long-standing dedication to the natural world.

“The maison’s precious ode to flora and fauna is marked by dazzling stylistic audacity,” writes coauthor François Chaille. “The breathtaking naturalism of a faithful reproduction combines with brilliantly evocative stylization in the detail of a line, a movement, a force. Whether plant or animal, the approach is the same: sublime the aesthetic power of nature, capturing what is most essential and most stirring — its vitality.”

Chaille — who specializes in the history of art, fashion, jewelry and horology, and has authored a few books on Cartier — delves into the evolution of how the company has represented nature, from the realistic to the phantasmagorical. He highlights key pieces, from the beginnings of the Parisian jewelry house in the 19th century to the present day, including delicate objets d’art, the iconic panther in its many guises, and other members of the glittering bestiary.

Following this erudite overview, art historian Hélène Kelmachter — a former curator at the Fondation Cartier pour l’Art Contemporain, the brand’s exhibition and cultural space in Paris — looks at a selection of 20th- and 21st-century artists who take their inspiration from the natural world. This is a clever narrative that inscribes these spectacular high-jewelry creations and their extraordinary stones into the story of the larger art scene.