Hermès describes its collaboration with accessories designer Pierre Hardy on the Centaur collection as "the highest form of dressage" and it is easy to see why.
Just like the way in which dressage horses are trained to make their very precise movements appear effortless, so the jewels in the Centaure collection are seamlessly formed to weave together materials such as black jade, pink opals, adventurine and diamonds.
Inspired by the maison's equestrian tradition, the first collection of high jewellery designed by Pierre Hardy for Hermès incorporates whip and hoof motifs in an assortment of jewels that echo the movement and perfection of the finest Lipizzan horses.
In an ode to modern elegance, the collection of 14 pieces blurs the lines between masculine and feminine to striking effect. The platinum Fouet necklace - by special order only - takes its form from the sharp whip, interpreted as a sparkling curved band set with 3,669 diamonds.
The hoof-inspired Centaure range combines rose gold, black jade and diamonds in jewels that appear to move with the click-clack of dazzling horses' hooves on rings, bracelets and a necklace. The diamond-studded Centaure ring forms a pirouette of light on the finger, while the Centaure necklace sets off an orderly procession of abstract hooves around the neck.
Available at Harrods, the jewels are beautifully presented in bespoke black crocodile boxes with lids reminiscent of the cobbled roads upon which the horses' hooves fall as they move.
To read about Pierre Hardy's second high jewellery collection for Hermès, called Niloticus, click here.
