Second Skin: Hermès' High Jewellery Collection, Lignes Sensibles

The unlikely inspiration for Hermès latest high jewellery collection? Instruments used to listen to the body. You read that right. It is for this very reason that Pierre Hardy, creative director of jewellery at Hermès, boldly describes the 45 pieces of Lignes Sensibles as the “small organs” and “subtle pulsations” of “an intimate sensory system”. True enough, the various necklaces, brooches, rings, earrings and bracelets boast plenty of seemingly spontaneous curves that appear to glide across and even flow freely into the skin. Often, on each of the pieces, rose gold and “milky” gemstones (cleverly chosen for their resemblance to the human skintone) form sensuous, undulating “circuits” that tenderly rest on and slide across the skin – very much like a piece of Hermès silk would.

Hardy describes the collection best when he says: “The whole collection resembles a caress. The necklaces are as soft as arms around the neck.”