Style Edit: Hermès' new high jewellery collection, Les Formes de la Couleur, translates Pierre Hardy's take on colour theory into wearable art featuring diamonds, emeralds, rubies and sapphires

South China Morning Post

17-03-2025

For Hermès, colour has always been a language of its own – woven into silks, painted onto leather and wrapped around
its most coveted designs . But for the first time in the house's history, that mastery of colour takes centre stage in high jewellery. The new Hermès haute bijouterie collection, Les Formes de la Couleur, is a bold, kaleidoscopic exploration of light and form, where emeralds, rubies, sapphires and diamonds – green, red, blue and white – are transformed into something entirely new.
Supracolor necklace. Photo: Handout
'This collection expresses colour in shapes,' says Pierre Hardy, creative director of Hermès Jewellery. 'I wanted to build a strong, autonomous and independent identity.' That vision unfolds across a series of striking, sculptural pieces, where geometry and colour theory meet the craftsmanship of haute joaillerie.
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Color Icons double ring. Photo: Handout
Hardy, who studied colour theory at university, revisited it with a fresh perspective, using it as the foundation for designs that challenge how we see jewellery. In the Portraits de la Couleur chapter, rubies are structured into perfect squares, while sapphires form deep blue circles and beryls become bright yellow triangles. 'If red is square, what is that square saying?' Hardy muses. 'It could remind you of a superhero's emblem, a work of art, a memory.'
Hermès Diaprés necklace. Photo: Handout
Beyond structure, the collection plays with texture and movement. The Fresh Paint pieces feature the illusion of brushstrokes on canvas, with precious and semi-precious stones forming fluid, painterly patterns in rich gradients. In Arc en Couleurs, articulated bracelets and necklaces shimmer with subtle colour transitions – one necklace features nearly 1,400 individually selected stones to achieve its seamless spectrum. Designed to mould to the body's curves, these pieces feel as much like wearable art as jewellery. 'I wanted to explore the whole spectrum,' Hardy explains. 'Rather than stifling diversity, I wanted to celebrate it.'
Arc en Couleurs bracelet. Photo: Handout
There's also an element of science at play, with pieces designed to capture the effects of light diffraction. The Supracolor necklace, a hypnotic, architectural piece, uses rutilated quartz as a prism, revealing hidden rays of colour beneath its surface; while Hermès Diaprés contrasts emerald-cut diamonds and sapphires with iridescent mother-of-pearl, the gems glowing softly against intricate settings. Meanwhile, Color Flash takes a modern approach, with pavé-set, pixelated compositions of vividly coloured stones appearing almost like a digital screen frozen in time.
Color Flash bracelet. Photo: Handout
This collection marks a shift in the way Hermès approaches haute bijouterie – bold, experimental and entirely unafraid of colour. It's jewellery that doesn't just decorate but sparks conversation. 'I wanted to express a lot of ideas at the same time,' Hardy says. 'It's possible to want different things all at once.' If this is what colour at Hermès looks like, the possibilities are endless.