Curations: Hermès creates an opulent second skin with Lignes Sensibles, its intimate high jewellery collection
- The designs by Pierre Hardy, the French maison’s creative director of jewellery, were inspired by human anatomy, from eye colours to sensory systems
- The five-line collection features statement pieces such as the Contre la Peau necklace, a gold mesh collar that conforms to the wearer’s neck
The inspiration for Hermès’ new high jewellery collection exists within the structure and mechanisms of the human anatomy, resulting in a range of pieces that form a luxurious second skin on different parts of the body.
Lignes Sensibles is the sixth in a series of novel concepts envisioned by Pierre Hardy, creative director of jewellery for the French maison. He last created a stir in the jewellery world in 2019 with the Enchaînements Libres collection, comprising bold, chain-themed pieces that the designer imagined as a metaphorical link with one’s body.
With his latest set of jewellery creations for Hermès, Hardy has now made a direct, intimate connection. “The whole collection resembles a caress,” he says. “The necklaces are as soft as arms around the neck. I wanted the rings, too, to be one with the body, and not simply a gemstone placed on a finger.”
Lignes Sensibles, which translates from French as “sensitive lines”, is divided into five parts. The pieces are made with gems that match skin tones and eye colours, and lines that emulate the forms and systems of the body.
“I love that the body holds so much symmetry; it is a wealth of mechanisms and articulations,” Hardy says. “The jewellery that I create attempts to bring to the surface these inherent facets of the human body, and to exalt them.”
Here’s how that vision took shape in each part of the collection.
À l’écoute
The distinctive necklace from this line resembles a stethoscope. Hardy drew inspiration from objects used to listen to the body as he sought a way to translate the inner workings of the human anatomy.
“I like the idea that you can choose a different anatomy, reinvent an intimate sensory system, like a wave that is made visible and given form by jewellery,” he says.