Colour in Motion: Les Formes de la couleur by Hermès
Hermès' stunning new High Jewellery collection, blending artistry, heritage and innovation, hints at the future of luxury.
Pierre Hardy, Creative Director of Hermès Jewelry, presents a captivating collection that explores the interplay of colour and form. “This collection expresses colour in shapes. I wanted to find a way to express this fundamental phenomenon — of colour, at Hermès — and build a strong, autonomous and independent identity,” he says.
A multifaceted exploration of volumes and materials, this journey through colour consists of chapters of new Hermès haute bijouterie defined by the stages of an eclectic and radiant odyssey. Hardy celebrates the effects of this colour phenomenon, capturing its intangible essence and embracing its form. This new collection is an experiment in the perception of light, a thought process that explores the relationship between colour and shape.
The “Portraits de la couleur” chapter features rings, inspired by the notion of resonance between colours and geometric shapes, where the surprising associations are illustrated by a red square of a ruby, a yellow triangle of beryl and a blue circle of a sapphire that come together in a sophisticated structure. In the “Fresh Paint” chapter, monochrome lines create the illusion of painting with precious and semi-precious stones to present deep, nuanced arabesques of colour with immaculate jewelling work to reflect a mirage of volume and texture.
The supple, undulating shapes in “Arc en couleurs” echo the curves of the body, accompanied by soft colours that reverberate reverie. The articulated bracelets and necklaces are created from ingenious technical prowess in meshwork where close to 1,400 stones were used for the colour gradient of the necklace. Next, the “Hermès Diaprés” chapter features a ring, bracelet and necklace showcasing centre stones that radiate a soft, coloured brilliance, illuminating the architectural motif in iridescent mother of pearl, set off by baguette-cut, coloured stones and diamonds.
The hypnotic, architectural and precious pieces in “Supracolor” demonstrate the diffraction of light waves, moving from black to white with the appearance of rays of prismatic colour seen through the rutilated quartz set with a dazzling triangle-cut diamond. Provoking daring encounters, inspiring contradictions and creating surprises, Les Formes de la couleur concludes with the rounded, asymmetrical shapes in “Color Vibes” that are paired with classically cut precious stones, and the highly geometric pieces in “Colour Flash” that resemble pixelated digital images.
In cultivating a unique approach to haute bijouterie, rooted in the Maison’s original métier as a harness-maker and saddler, Hermès imbues the new High Jewellery collection, Les Formes de la couleur, with a bold spirit expressed through strong shapes and vibrant colours that exude powerful emotions. In an interview, Hardy explained that colour was the driving force behind this collection where he sought to create a vocabulary that moved away from the House’s recognisable shapes, embracing a certain sense of freedom. Drawing inspiration from his art degree, he re-immersed himself in colour theories, exploring the relationship between colour and shape in a vision that merged the theoretical with the ornamental, the two-dimensional with the three-dimensional.
