Beauty Above: Piaget Extraordinary Lights High Jewellery Act II

by The Time Place Magazine

Piaget is on a persistent quest to capture the beauty of the night sky in the form of its new jewellery range. Following the release of the Extraordinary Lights Collection, the House has crafted new creations exuding creativity and a symphony of magnificent colours. Just like the collection before it, the Piaget Extraordinary Lights High Jewellery Act II has three categories, which are Festive Lights, Magical Lights, and Infinite Lights.

The moment when lucky lanterns are released high into the night sky is the main inspiration behind the Festive Lights range. Dominated by a green palette accented with yellow, this range replicates the colours of the lanterns when they float in the high sky – a symbol of high dreams for the future. The main gemstone used in this range is the tourmaline. It is featured in the ring where a central cushion-cut stone is surrounded by baguette cuts. A matching pair of cushion-cut stones adorn the earrings with marquise, baguette and brilliant-cut white diamonds complementing the yellow diamonds seen throughout the set.

The centrepiece of the Festive Lights offerings is the Glowing Lanterns necklace with a 35.64 carat cushion-cut tourmaline as its focal point. An apple-green shade from chrysoprase beads brings a dynamic contrast to this tasselled-necklace. One thing that must be mentioned about this creation is that it is designed following the instruction of Valentin, the grandson of the brand’s founder Georges-Edouard Piaget, “to do what has never been done before.” With this in mind, Piaget has come up with an invisible switch system, which enables light to internally illuminate the tourmaline and make it glow beautifully from within just like a lantern.

The magic of the Aurora Borealis is translated into the creations that comprise the Magical Lights range. A glamorous asymmetric Voluptuous Borealis necklace pays tribute to the spectacular natural phenomenon with its green Zambian emeralds. At its centre is a 10.29 carat pear-shaped gem. The asymmetric ring features the same kind of precious stone weighing 5.3 carats. Also a focal point of the earrings, the emeralds are emphasised by great swirls of baguette and brilliant-cut diamonds. The shiny green of the emeralds also adorn the watch. All the pieces are designed to be worn with comfort, just like the feeling of silk against the skin.

The third category sources its inspiration from the beautiful meteor shower. Sapphires are chosen as the gemstone for the Infinite Lights range. From soft delicate blue to midnight hues, these stones are arranged to reflect the beauty of nature’s choreography. It took more than one year of meticulous gemmological work and skill to collect the stones in three different colour gradations with perfect tone and strong saturation. Furthermore, the charm of this range is not only about its blue shade, but also its unique shapes.

The Celestial Ballet ring takes the shape of a comet that can cover two fingers. The main spectacle of this creation is the 2.71 carat Sri Lankan sapphire surrounded by a series of other sapphires and diamonds. The rest of the pieces, from necklace to drop earrings, also have dynamic designs reminiscent of the dance of shooting stars. The entirety of Piaget’s Extraordinary Lights High Jewellery Act II collection is what everybody needs to exude: the sparkling and wonderful energy of the night sky.