Fierce fauna and fabulous flora in Cartier’s latest Nature Sauvage high jewels

“She is only interested in creatures that cannot be tamed,” said Michel Aliaga, Cartier’s director of transmission, history and patrimony. Sometimes, no amount of marketing literature can bring out the essence of a collection better than an in-house expert. “It is their wildness she’s fascinated with,” he added during our casual conversation at Cartier’s recent global launch of the third and final chapter of its Nature Sauvage high jewels. 

By “she”, he meant Jeanne Toussaint, Cartier’s legendary muse and creative director in the 1900s, who is the mother of the “panthere” that became a jewellery emblem not just synonymous with the house, but one that is the world’s most recognisable today.

And the topic of Toussaint had cropped up during an “Art of Stringing” workshop, where a group of us were busy trying our hand at Peranakan beading of two beloved Cartier motifs of the panthere and flamingo. 

Helming the experience was Aliaga, who took us through the maison’s high jewellery savoir faire in beadwork, alongside a Peranakan mother-and-daughter pair of embroidery experts from Melaka, in a French-meets-Singaporean cultural showcase that this launch event was themed upon. After all, 2025 marks the 30th anniversary of Cartier’s presence on our shores.

And the setting, on this balmy afternoon, could not have been better: A second-storey salon in the Former Command House, ensconced within a forest-lined Bukit Timah estate. Downstairs, in an intimate exhibition set against a backdrop of Peranakan art and Lion City-inspired motifs, we caught the first glimpses of Cartier’s latest expressions of beasts both feral and fantastic.

Into the jungle

Naturally, the Cartier panthere sits at the pinnacle of the animal pantheon in this new collection. And what’s incredible is the repertoire of the forms the feline took — graphic, stylised or naturalistic, not to mention its various poses and demeanour.

The Panthere Canopee necklace portrays the cat, in onyx and diamonds, in repose on a cushion-cut blue sapphire surrounded by a scintillating expanse of leaves set with brilliant- and baguette-cut diamonds. Its matching ring is a splendid abstraction of the creature, flaunting also a cushion-cut blue sapphire crowning a shank bearing a spotted motif that was Toussaint’s very first Panthere design depiction in 1914.

On the Panthere Telesma brooch, the icon is perched atop two rectangular-cut emeralds with an imperious gaze over its kingdom. Transformable between two necklace styles is the chimeric Panthere Versatiles, which showcases the big cat holding a sugarloaf emerald in its mouth or as a double-headed design with the attachment of a complementary bracelet.

Beyond the jewels, the feline — in all its bejewelled glory — is also the main character on a Singapore-exclusive Panthere de Cartier silk satin bag embellished with jungle-effect acrylic painting, as well as the Mini Green Mystery Clock and a decanter-and-wine glass set.

Not to be outshone are several other equally magnificent apex creatures. A yellow gold Tiger flaunting white, orange, and brown diamonds takes centre stage in a multi-piece set, while a chevroned-patterned diamond king cobra with yellow diamond eyes takes shape as the Simalia necklace. The crocodile, rendered in an armour of yellow gold and diamonds with pronounced scales in the Eusuchia set, is pictured slicing through waters of light blue tourmaline.

What really stole the thunder, though, is the majestic Hathiyon necklace. Named in Hindi for “elephant”, the wood-carved pachyderm’s head anchors the piece as the central pendant, contrasting with a red spinel bead tassel and sprays emanating from a diamond-set chain — much like a powerful aura. 

For the modern maharani

Mughal-style jewels bearing colourful floral-carved gemstones, which Louis and Jacques Cartier were so besotted with during their trips to 20th century India, are reinterpreted into modern treasures. 

The house’s emblematic Tutti Frutti design, inspired by these royal gems, finds new life in the Tutti Karonda parure. The most vibrant of rubies, emeralds, and blue sapphires — sculpted as leaves, buds, berries, and fluted beads — are artfully combined in these magnetic creations, paying the best homage imaginable to their historic roots. 

The Echina set is yet another example of this regal foliage-influenced composition, in true Cartier style with its signature blue and green colour mix, accentuated by another favourite gemstone, red coral.

More flora-inspired resplendence is on display on two more creations from the collection. As a foil to the multi-coloured gems is the White Hana brooch, whose carved milky quartz petals and bud softly contrast with yellow garnet stigmas and leaves studded with green garnets and diamonds. 

Just as entrancing are the all-diamond Molinae necklace and earrings, which are geometric expressions of what looks like either a blanket of raindrops or monochromatic wreath of blooms. Pushing the graphic envelope further is the Red Astralis necklace in a shimmering celestial formation of rubellites, diamonds, and other-worldly grey moonstones.

This ultimate Nature Sauvage chapter appeals to a soul that is wild, complex, and enigmatic all at once. And, I can imagine, there is certainly a little bit of Jeanne Toussaint in you, me, and the various celebrities like Jisoo and Gemma Chan who had the honour of donning the creations.