Hermès’s polymathic shoe and jewellery designer, Pierre Hardy, has been responsible for the brand’s haute joaillerie line since it was introduced in 2010, creating pieces defined by a supple, swooping sense of abstraction that evokes the work of Cy Twombly. These rose gold rings, part of the Les Jeux de l’Ombre collection, reflect Hardy’s current fascination with the relationship between light and dark. Large faceted gems in classic configurations seem to cast shadows realised in the form of mirror-polished black jade, irregularly shaped like rain puddles. Hardy chose the stones — pinkish-brown and green tourmalines, an orangey imperial topaz — for their saturated lustre; paired with diamonds, the colours burst from the ebony surface. “The paradox is that without light you have no shadow,” he says. “And when you emerge from the shadow, everything seems more alive.”
