These fancy cut gemstones reveal the true beauty of gems and elevate a jewellery piece by adding depth, texture and dynamism.
Graff
A graphic design starring a web of diamonds, Graff’s Threads Collection celebrates how our stories are spun in a modern, ever-changing world and the powerful human connections we make. One of the collection’s most spectacular pieces is this necklace, which showcases a sensational display of fine artistry and rare coloured diamonds totalling over 44 carats. In a remarkable display of dazzling fire, the necklace is graced by 24 radiant-cut fancy yellow diamonds, alongside round and baguette-cut white diamonds – a signature of the collection. Each set by hand, the gems are embraced by an almost invisible setting that allows their true brilliance to radiate effortlessly.
Bvlgari
The storied maison draws inspiration from its native Rome for its latest high jewellery collection, Barocko. As the name suggests, the magnificent influence of the city’s Baroque artistic and architectural heritage comes to life with Bvlgari’s unapologetic and audacious spirit. Since many Baroque art pieces feature a play on light and shadow, this Raggio di Luce ring does the same with a rare 5.02-carat fancy vivid yellow-orange diamond in a unique shield step cut sourced in Hong Kong. The opulent piece is also adorned with a graphic combination of fancy pavé-set vivid yellow diamonds weighing 0.92 carats and 38 fancy step-cut diamonds totalling 2.28 carats. Together, the scintillating gems recreate the extraordinary light effects of one of the masterpieces of the Roman High Baroque era – Gian Lorenzo Bernini’s sculpture, The Ecstasy of Saint Teresa.
Tiffany & Co.
The 2019 Tiffany Blue Book Collection featured pieces in a series that transformed the jeweller’s iconic motifs – one of which is the star – into modernised classics. Revolving around the idea of reconstruction, artisans deftly hid all traces of creation to reveal only the beauty of the motif and its diamonds. The result is this asymmetrical celestial motif, set in platinum and 18k yellow gold, with intersecting elements echoing a mosaic art piece. It comprises round fancy blue diamonds totalling over three carats, and over 18 carats of white diamonds in baguettes, round brilliants and custom cuts for a cracked-ice effect.
Cartier
A stunning 81.1-carat cushion-cut watermelon tourmaline steals the spotlight on this bracelet from the incredible Résonances de Cartier collection. The highly prized rare stone is so expertly cut and polished that it radiates a palette of light brown hues from its centre into a circumference of vibrant green. This centre stone’s mesmerising colours and play of light lead the gaze to another beautiful specimen, an 8.01-carat cushion-shaped yellow green sapphire. Next the eyes are drawn to a graduated arrangement of baguette-cut coloured sapphires, and brown, light orange and white diamonds. It is the precision of the calculated cut of the stones and settings in nuanced sparkling tones and semi-tones that reveal the maison’s savoir faire and exacting standards in its gem selection process.
Van Cleef & Arpels
Capturing the lightness and vitality of the Italian rose on this transformable clip from the Romeo & Juliet High Jewellery collection requires careful observation of nature’s proportions and colours. To depict the bloom’s vivid hue and texture, the Navette Mystery Set technique was employed by the maison’s elite artisans for the intricate buff-topped rubies, where marquise-cut stones create a three-dimensional effect with no visible mounting. Pink sapphires, rubies and diamonds set in white, rose and red gold provide a stunning colour contrast, while various gem shapes, ranging from baguettes to custom cuts, add to the visual feast. Accompanying the clip is a diamond necklace which the bloom can be attached to.
Harry Winston
In his day, Mr Winston introduced a new philosophy for fine jewellery design in which pieces are defined by the gemstones. By allowing the gems to guide each design, every creation is a celebration of the beauty of the individual stone and ultimately, the unique style of the woman it adorns. This classic Winston floral motif diamond necklace demonstrates just that as it gets the royal treatment with a stunning 38.88-carat cushion-cut Sri Lankan sapphire in a velvety blue colour. Eschewing the use of round brilliant diamonds, the maison complements the extraordinary centre stone with 179 breathtaking diamonds totalling 102 carats in square-cut emeralds, marquise and pear shapes.
Chaumet
Architecture has been a constant source of inspiration and is one of the cornerstones of the maison’s stylistic repertoire. Its sensational new thematic High Jewellery collection, Perspectives de Chaumet, features six themes that pay tribute to major movements in international architecture spanning the Italian Renaissance to Bauhaus. Evoking a skewed graphic horizon, the theme of Skyline seeks to reinvent the iconic architecture of contemporary cities as symbolic of power and elevation. Possessing a combination of strong volume, prominent angles with a harmony of curves, the Skyline ring is a striking, uber-cool and completely unconventional masterpiece in yellow gold, set with an asscher-cut diamond of 7.34 carats and baguette-cut diamonds.
This story first appeared in the August 2020 issue of Prestige Singapore.
Background images: Ilya Mirnyy; Andrew Buchanan; Beto Duarte; Mathew Schwartz; Daniel Chen; Victor Garcia; Matt Reames; Benjamin Dos Santos; Pop Zebra; Khara Woods/Unsplash
