Over 60 rare and vintage bestiary jewels from Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels, Boucheron and Bulgari are being showcased in an exclusive sale. The greatest jewellers have always reinvented animals in all shapes and forms: rings, bracelets, pendants... More than ornamental pieces, these jewels have a real symbolism, and each house has its own signature animal. Nature is an inexhaustible source of inspiration and creativity for jewellers, who use precious metals and coloured stones to bring to life realistic or fantastic animals that never cease to delight collectors and lovers of originality.
The Cartier Panther
Since 1914, the panther has been the emblem of femininity and synonymous with boldness and freedom according to Cartier. A feline favoured by jewellers for its sculptural form, the Cartier Panther can be worn both around the neck with a sublime yellow gold and diamond pendant from the 1980s and on the wrist with a yellow gold enamel and tsavorite garnet bracelet.
The Bulgari Snake
Made famous by Elizabeth Taylor, Bulgari's Serpenti collection has chosen the snake as its totem, a symbol of wisdom and fertility that has been used many times in jewellery. Inspired by its undulating shape and precious scales, the house has developed a technique of tubular bands called "spirotubes" or "tubogas" that allow for their incredible flexibility.
The Van Cleef & Arpels Butterfly
The wings of the Van Cleef & Arpels butterfly, a delicate symbol of renewal, are adorned with hard stones: malachite, mother-of-pearl, carnelian, turquoise or tiger's eye, like the pendant in the emblematic Lucky Alhambra collection, which combines the skills of the jeweller and the lapidary.