Jewellery can be special—over time, pieces pick up meaning, significance and sentimentality, emotions that add to its allure. But if one is very lucky, a piece of jewellery can also be worn at the exact moment that a personal milestone is made and thereby acquire its own magic. That is exactly what happened to the actress Zoe Saldaña last night at the 82nd Golden Globe Awards.
Saldaña, a prolific actress who has racked up a cinematography with roles in some of the highest-grossing films of all time, was a first-time nominee and winner at the Globes. She took home the award for the best performance in a supporting role in a motion picture for her part as lawyer Rita Mora Castro in the Spanish-language musical crime comedy Emilia Pérez.
“This is a first time for me,” she said during her acceptance speech, visibly emotional and sharing her thanks with director Jacques Audiard, her family, the cast and crew of the film and her fellow nominees. The jewellery she wore at the award ceremony, and that will indeed be immortalised with this moment of success, was a set of never-before-seen high jewellery creations by Cartier from the upcoming third chapter of the Parisian maison’s Nature Sauvage collection.
Dubbed the Melis, the set of necklace and earrings take their inspiration from honey and bees. It’s a continuation of the natural references that Cartier has taken with the Nature Sauvage collection, exploring a world of untamed beauty. Zoe Saldaña, who is a friend of the maison, selected the pieces personally together with her stylist Petra Flannery. In the lead up to the Globes, the two made a private visit to Cartier’s 13 Paix boutique in Paris to consult with Alexa Abitbol, the maison’s high jewellery workshop director.
The centrepiece of Saldaña’s look is unquestionably the Melis necklace, an abstracted and geometric interpretation of bees and honey. It required over 738 hours of craftsmanship by the maison’s artisans, weaving together intricate and rare artisanal techniques. A totem-like bee, for instance, sits discreetly on the necklace, its body crafted from a briolette-cut Fancy Intense Yellow diamond weighing 2.64 carats.
Around the bee, a honeycomb structure of hexagonal settings in yellow gold that feature briolette- and brilliant-cut diamonds, as well as yellow diamond beads. The palette, naturally, was chosen to evoke the richness and sweetness of honey.
The choice of using yellow diamond beads is, however, an unusual one in jewellery. Typically, diamonds are faceted to maximise their sparkle and light. In an unfaceted form, the beads are instead mirror polished to create a delicate scintillation of light that enhances the colour of the yellow diamonds. The briolette diamonds, meanwhile, are mounted with terrifically delicate micro-wires that give the impression that the clustered gemstones are simply floating in space.
And to complete the set, Saldaña wore a pair of delicate Melis earrings that continue the motifs and inspirations of the necklace. A cluster of briolette diamonds are framed by hexagonal gold structures, on which are set brilliant-cut white diamonds and yellow diamond beads.
“I am honoured to be the first person to wear the Melis set and showcase its beauty on this special occasion,” shared Saldaña of the jewels that she’s certain to remember dearly. “Its golden fluidity felt apropos for the Golden Event, and makes it a joy to wear.”
