A sense of intimacy characterises creative director of Hermès jewellery Pierre Hardy’s pieces, which seek to be close to the body in increasingly intricate forms. In the past, the heavy gold links of his perennially popular chains achieved this by emphasising the body’s lines and curves, and the new Lignes Sensibles collection gets closer still.
Hardy was inspired by objects which listen to the body, such as a stethoscope, for this collection, tracing its coiling lines on the skin. Skin colour becomes embodied in gemstones in cloudy, milky hues, with cabochons in pink quartz, black jade and grey and cream moonstone cutting bold geometric silhouettes.
When abstractly placed, they subvert the symmetry Hardy sees in the human body. Gradients of colour run throughout, with light brown diamonds, a signature of Hermès jewellery, adorning the neck, chest and hands. A cuff encrusted with quartz cabochons and a triple ring of quartz, jade and opal encapsulate bolder tones.
Other jewels seek to get close through osmosis; by working with lace-like meshing for the Contre la peau necklace, it becomes a fabric crafted from metal and diamonds complete with triangular micro-wrinkles – a second skin. Fluidity is a recurring theme: loops of diamond chains around brooches mimic the flow of water, hand chains trace lines of veins and an earring hugs the contours of the ear. §
