Last year, Cartier reintroduced one of its midcentury icons: the coffee bean-inspired Grain de Café. The collection builds on a design motif the brand first introduced in 1938 under jewellery designer Jeanne Toussaint. The coffee bean is a distinctly Cartier expression of nature in jewellery, an unexpected source of inspiration with equal streaks of rebelliousness and sophistication.
This year, the French jeweller is introducing a range of new Grain de Café designs to the collection. They tap and build on the Riviera-chic spirit of the line, which was popularised in the 1950s and ’60s thanks to style icons like Princess Grace Kelly of Monaco.
Grain de Café designs make alluring use of a repeated motif in gold. The coffee bean is engraved by hand with gadrooned lines. And because each bean is individually mounted and meant to rattle and jingle with movement, they are also carefully sculpted and shaped with curves and arches so they move without knocking into each other.
This year, Cartier has added colourful new interpretations with red rubellite beads that echo the actual berries of the coffee plant. The rubellite beads are dotted with gold nails or diamonds, and are scattered on a ring, bracelet and necklace almost as if they were sprouting berries. The necklace is a standout, combining the coffee beans motif with two rows of gleaming gold beads.
“A symbol of the creative freedom of the maison,” explains creative director of jewellery and watchmaking Marie-Laure Cérède. “Grain de Café creates a new preciousness by playing with light, finishes and volumes,” she adds, resulting in a collection that “transcends a literal translation of nature and results in a multi-sensory design.”
The latest new designs add some white sparkle to the warm, golden shine of the collection. Instead of single brilliant or princess-cut diamonds set into the tips of the coffee beans, whole beans are rendered instead as platinum-set diamonds. This twist on the motif is offered as a ring, with a triple band of braided gold and platinum, a pair of earrings and an open collar necklace.
