Jewelers Embrace the Animal Motif

The black-dappled white panther, sometimes curling around the wrist as a bracelet, sometimes crouched low as a brooch or glaring from a choker, is Cartier’s most emblematic animal.

But it is not the only one.

Tigers striped with black spinels and emerald-studded crocodiles gripping dials in their teeth were among the many animal-inspired timepieces Cartier put on display at the recent Watches & Wonders fair in Geneva, serving as a prelude to the brand’s Nature Sauvage high jewelry collection to be introduced later this month.

In an email, Pierre Rainero, Cartier’s image, style and heritage director, highlighted what he called the “visual richness” and “evocative power” of animal motifs to explain why they are a mainstay for the brand.

Cartier’s new call of the wild is timely, with all sorts of animals, from insects to mammals, recently claiming more territory in the jewelry world. Van Cleef & Arpels and Boucheron have been expanding their menagerie of bejeweled beasts: new brooches shaped as frogs, horses or pandas at Van Cleef & Arpels and new renderings of the family’s former house cat Wladimir by Boucheron.

At Tiffany & Company, the cockatoo designed initially by Jean Schlumberger for the Bird on a Rock brooch has been nestled on pearls or a watch, while Bulgari (serpents) and Chanel (lions) have been reimagining their favorite motifs. “For its first foray into fancy fauna at the end of last year, Pomellato chose the scarab, while mighty African beasts such as lions, zebras and elephants inspired a series of De Beers’ engagement rings that were unveiled in January.

Dior welcomed beasts, too. “It’s the first time I’ve introduced animals, and what was important for me was to integrate them in a landscape and for them to be linked to the vegetation,” Victoire de Castellane, Dior Joaillerie’s creative director, said in a video introducing the brand’s newest high jewelry collection called Diorama & Diorigami. De Castellane said the Diorama pieces were inspired by the scenic toile de Jouy fabric that was particularly popular in the 19th century. “It’s a very figurative collection,” de Castellane said. “There are deer, owls and squirrels with lots of details.” (The Diorigami pieces were influenced by origami, the Japanese paper-folding art that has a more graphic interpretation of nature. )

The menagerie links Dior’s jewelry to the animal inspiration recently seen in the wider brand, for example, in last year’s leopard-print accessories and makeup.

Of course, jewelry shaped like animals is hardly a groundbreaking concept.

“Since the prehistoric period, jewelry has always reproduced animals,” Vincenzo Castaldo, Pomellato’s creative director, said by phone, “and it often happened that jewels were made from animal parts, such as feathers, teeth, and shells. So I think that through the use and also the possession of these jewels, humans entered and manifested a little bit their power over nature.”

When it came to choosing a scarab for the brand’s Scarabeo range of 31 rings, each set with a colorful hardstone, Mr. Castaldo said the insect’s shape lent itself to the use of the cabochon cut. “The scarab has a bit of a fantasy dimension, offering every woman the possibility to assign it a meaning of her choice,” he added.

The Boucheron creative director Claire Choisne said by phone that “a piece featuring an animal is more than just a piece of jewelry. If you choose one, you become attached to it.”

When crafting animal-shaped jewelry, she said that Boucheron’s atelier focuses on the face, particularly the eyes, to highlight the animal’s character and to elicit human emotions.

Marion Fasel, the author of “Beautiful Creatures: Jewelry Inspired by the Animal Kingdom,” wrote in an email that animal jewelry peaked at the turn of the 20th century and again in the 1960s, first as a “yearning for nature” and later as a “desire for a protective emblem during turbulent societal changes.”

But why are so many animals popping up in jewelry now?

“Spirituality is booming, astrology has become a big part of digital culture, and zodiac signs linked to animal myths are often part of our digital bio and spark conversations,” said Laurent François, managing partner of the 180 Global creative agency in Paris. “Customers tap into some brands’ animals to enrich their storytelling, their self-representations, or digital identities,” he said. “In a way, they write their own fairy tales,” he said, referring to the beloved beasts populating favorite childhood stories.

Ever since Cleopatra adorned herself with snake-shaped jewels, prominent personalities have chosen a bejeweled pet as an emblem. Queen Alexandra “was rarely photographed or even in portraits without her gold snake bracelet, the Duchess of Windsor was known for her Cartier flamingo and panther jewels,” Ms. Fasel wrote.

More recently, when the Covid pandemic kept humans apart, many spent more time in nature and adopted pets. The London-based jewelry designer Shaun Leane, known for his silver body adornments for Alexander McQueen, bonded with a fox that visited his garden.

The relationship “reminded me to be present,” he said by phone. “It’s an innate skill for animals to live in the present.” That led him to create Signum, a collection of rings, scapulars and bracelets carved with depictions of animals he found symbolic.

“When my family went through a very sad period,” he said, “I designed the bull for strength, which I wore and supported me through that time.” And he often wears the scapulars depicting the fox for wisdom and the snake for renewal. However, one animal ring is his favorite, he said: “I am always somehow drawn to the eagle, which represents freedom.”