Big Cat Jewellery: How the jewellery world lionised the big cats…
While persistent poaching and the erosion of their natural habitats have brought many big cats to the brink of extinction, they flourish as never before within the workshops of many of the very finest high-end jewellery houses. Indeed, for certain marques, big cat jewellery designs seem to be the most exquisite emblem for the times we live in.
Whether it’s their majestic presence or their prowling menace, big cat jewellery pieces recur throughout the world of haute joaillerie, with Cartier and Chanel proudly taking point. Indeed, it was Coco Chanel, Chanel’s legendary founder, who first devised her company’s signature lion look.
In 1920, inconsolable after the death of her lover, she fled to Venice. Finding herself alone in this most romantic of cities, she took comfort from the winged lion sculptures that surrounded her, ultimately embracing the beast as the perfect symbol of her renewed strength and independence. Today, the company that bears her name still honours the King of the Jungle in its Sous le Signe du Lion collection.
Big cats are not solely synonymous with Chanel, however. Over at Cartier, back in the early years of the 20th century, head designer Jeanne Toussaint was nicknamed Panthère by founder Louis Cartier – a tribute to her style and presence. Taking the name to heart, all things feline played a big part in the designer’s ouvré, with her proprietary panther designs dominating the maison’s output for an entire generation.
Other brands, of course, soon followed in their paw prints, lured in as much by their leopardesque looks as by the clearly lucrative returns to be had. While they were roundly imitated, when it came to cache, however, Chanel and Cartier clearly retained the lion’s share.
Text: Suchetana Mukhopadhyay
