Cartier's Grain de Café Collection Returns with Six New Pieces

We like our jewellery just as we like our coffee: strong and sweet. Lucky for us, Cartier’s Grain de Café collection, which in fact bases its recurring motif on the humble coffee bean, has made a welcome return. As improbable as it might seem for a small, dark seed of the Coffea plant to excite the imagination of a storied jewellery Maison, this happened in 1938 when Cartier’s Jeanne Toussaint used a motif inspired by the coffee bean. And the ’50s and ’60s was when the early Grain de Café pieces enjoyed immense popularity — the collection’s fans included Princess Grace of Monaco.

While the collection later retreated from the brand’s oeuvre, it has made its return with six glorious pieces. In rose gold are a ring and necklace set with obsidian and diamonds, and in yellow and white gold are two rings, a bracelet and a necklace set with diamonds. Each piece features sculpted and striated oblong shapes, which are clustered and mounted on “palm tree” chains. And as you’d expect from Cartier’s intricate, flora-inspired pieces, the gold beans rattle gently when worn.

“Grain de Café introduces a new preciousness by elevating a single material, gold, and playing with light, finishes and volume to create an acoustic collection brimming with soul,” says Cartier’s Jewellery and Watchmaking Creative Director, Marie-Laure Cérède.