Cartier Coloratura Collection: When Jewelry Takes You on a Journey

The diversity of our planet has always been a source of inspiration for the house of Cartier . One of the latest collections of the Haute Joaillerie division, Coloratura , offers 240 exceptional jewels that propose both a journey to discover the great cultures of our planet. But also colors thanks to the use of massive fine stones .

Festive and colorful jewelry in favor of the rapprochement of cultures

The colorful folklore of Eastern Europe, the powerful contrasts of Africa, the strong nuances of the Indian continent… these are the local traditions that served as a source of inspiration for the Coloratura luxury jewelry collection by Cartier. Supervised by Jacqueline Karachi, this collection offers a key role to fine stones, which exceptionally eclipse the 4 precious stones for the duration of a collection. The reason is easily explained by the objective of Coloratura: if it wants to play on colors , it cannot limit itself to the restricted chromatic field of the 4 major precious stones: diamond, emerald, ruby ​​and sapphire.

This is how spinels with a very pronounced orange-red color pay homage to the costumes of the Dogons of Mali, morganites evoke the cherry trees of Japan, or tourmalines and opals refer to Chinese paper lanterns.

High quality fine stones

This does not mean that Coloratura jewels are second-rate pieces. Far from it. Not only has the value of high-quality fine stones exploded in recent years, but at Cartier they only work with the cream of the crop. For example, a fiery red rubellite of over 65 carats was used. Such a volume of stone is unthinkable for a ruby ​​jewel. The use of fine stones therefore makes it possible to multiply the size.

Travel, a source of inspiration

Cartier has made the exploration of cultures one of its trademarks. Jacqueline Karachi does not just travel vicariously, she sets foot on the ground. Passionate about fine stones, she participates with her buyers in the largest stone fairs in the four corners of the world, from Hong Kong to Las Vegas via Basel.

But how do you judge the value of a fine stone? Here they are according to Cartier:

• Volume of the stone
• Depth and richness of nuances
• Its rarity
• Its raw and authentic character (some stones are heated in order to enhance their color)

Regarding the latter point, this is why Cartier jewelry never uses tanzanite, because these gems that have not undergone this treatment are extremely rare.