In their ninth high jewellery collection, christened Into the Horsescape, Hermès and Pierre Hardy, its creative director, have achieved the unthinkable: transforming harnesses, bits and stirrups into sculptures full of life.
It was 1837 when horses became the inspiration behind the Parisian firm Hermès. Today, almost 200 years later, the maison has created 90 unique pieces inspired by its equestrian heritage, in which the architecture of gold, the brilliance of diamonds and the freedom of movement pay homage to its roots.
In the Hermès workshops, equestrian heritage is not a static ornament, but a living language in a state of perpetual metamorphosis.
Presented as part of Paris Haute Couture Week, the ninth high jewellery collection is a true masterclass in abstraction, movement and understated refinement.
Thus, Into the Horsescape was conceived by Pierre Hardy, who has been designing the brand’s jewellery for over two decades, resulting in a collection that eschews figurative representations of the horse to focus instead on its sensory essence: the rhythm of its stride, the tension of the tack and the fluid silhouette of the rider in space.
In this collection, the most everyday elements of the stable are given an almost alchemical treatment.
The humble blacksmith’s nail, historically used to secure horseshoes, is reborn in the Clou de Forge Lumière necklace, where the diamond setting using the pavage matière technique creates a continuous surface of dazzling light.
Meanwhile, the bit — the implement that guides the horse’s mouth — is stretched and curved in the pieces from the Étreintes line, transforming restraint into an embrace of gemstones against the skin.
One of the most dazzling pieces in the entire collection is the Sellette bracelet, directly inspired by a miniature 18th-century saddle from Émile Hermès’s collection, which combines satin-finished titanium, gold and diamonds to reinterpret the anatomical structure of the equestrian harness as a contemporary sculpture.
The dynamic interpretation of forms that Hermès clearly seeks to achieve across all the series that make up this new high jewellery collection is evident, more than ever, in Lasso Disco, where the rope of the loop loosens to become a flexible band of baguette-cut diamonds that dances along the contour of the neck.
And it is in Attelage d’Or that the buckles of the horse harness are transformed into sculpted gold through impeccable architectural features; whilst in the Cavale series, the jewellery dispenses with any structural references to focus solely on the sensation of pure freedom and unbridled gallop.
Into the Horsescape presents a collection of jewellery and materials in which Hermès seamlessly blends traditional craftsmanship with innovative materials: satin-finished titanium, cleanly cut emeralds, sapphires, diamonds and combinations of precious metals that ensure each piece is light, flexible and comfortable to the touch.
True to the spirit of Hermès, there is no gratuitous ostentation; true sophistication lies in the precision of the lines and in the way each piece comes to life when worn on the body.
With this collection, Hermès and Pierre Hardy demonstrate that, almost two centuries after the brand’s founding, the myth of the horse is not a thing of the past, but rather part of the future of the finest craftsmanship.
Into the Horsescape is clear proof that, when supreme craftsmanship meets abstract design, luxury need not shout to become timeless.
