Cartier to Launch New Trinity Collection

The other night, Cartier hosted an event at the Hotel Americano to showcase a mix of classic, new, and forthcoming Trinity pieces. Located around the corner from Marquee, the industrial block that houses Americano might not be the place you’d expect the storied jewelry house to host an event; nevertheless the just-opened hotel is certainly worth the way westward trek. Modern and understated, the downstairs lounge was brimming with gorgeous floral arrangements making for the perfect backdrop for the Cartier pieces on display – some of which were dripping in so many diamonds they blinded my camera!

The vine-covered cottage in Milly-la-Forêt where Cocteau lived and Cartier has helped restore; The Cartier Trinity Sauvage ring inspired by Cocteau (right).

Released in 1924, Trinity de Cartier is a three-band piece that combines three colors of 18-karat gold to symbolize the different stages of a relationship: white for friendship, rose for love, and yellow for fidelity. French artist, writer, and filmmaker Jean Cocteau was one of the first to wear a Trinity ring – two of them stacked on his left pinkie – and he helped turn it into one of the jeweler’s most iconic designs. Interior decorator Elsie de Wolf was the first American client to buy the Trinity bracelet and since stars running the gamut from Madonna to Anne Hathaway have walked red carpets with pieces from the now vastly expanded collection.

Cocteau’s study, designed by Madeleine Castaing; one of the Trinity pieces showcased in the Phillip Lim runway show (right).

Among the pieces on display at the event were some of the ones inspired by Cocteau, which were released last year. Named after his film La Belle et la Bete, the Trinity La Belle has six rolling bands to reflect Cocteau’s double pinkie rings and one loop is stamped with a star in a reflection of the fact that the artist always added a star to his signature when signing his name. Also in the collection is the Trinity Sauvage ring, bracelet, and pendant each of which has a band imprinted with black-lacquer spots to reflect not only Cartier’s famed panther, but as an ode to the leopard-print walls in Cocteau’s study.

On a side note, Cartier introduced rings, bracelets, and earrings with a similar star motif made of diamonds at Phillip Lim’s fall 2009 show in celebration of their Centennial in America.

The major news at the event, however, centered around the introduction in January 2012 of pearl-accented Cartier Trinity pieces. None of the pieces were yet available to be displayed, but we were shown a slideshow featuring the designs and the lineup includes pearls incorporated into rings, necklaces, and earrings. As for something new you can get now, a platinum, white gold, and black ceramic Trinity ring, bangle, pendant, and pair of earrings just hit Cartier last week (they come in iterations with pave diamonds as well).

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