Cartier Recreates Historical High Jewellery Necklace For Ocean’s 8
As the movie’s exclusive jewellery partner, the Maison created the “Toussaint” necklace to play a pivotal role in the hotly anticipated addition to the “Ocean’s” franchise
Ocean’s 8 sees the female crew attempt a seemingly impossible heist at New York’s star-studded annual Met Gala with the target being the “Toussaint”, a legendary diamond necklace made by Cartier that in real life is a replica of a piece originally created in 1931.
Designed by Jacques Cartier for the Maharaja of Nawanagar, the original necklace featured cascades of coloured diamonds that included the 136.25-carat Queen of Holland diamond.
The “Toussaint” necklace was recreated by Cartier in just eight weeks for the new movie
Cartier
While the original necklace no longer exists, the design drawing and photographs still remain in Cartier’s archives. When the Maison was approached to create the necklace for the film’s heist, they mobilised their very best jewellers at the High Jewellery workshops in Paris to accomplish the feat in just eight weeks and send the jewel to New York.
As the necklace was originally designed for a man, the replica needed to be reduced by 15 to 20 percent to fit Anne Hathaway
Cartier
The necklace pays tribute to Jeanne Toussaint, Cartier’s 20th century Creative Director who was the driving force behind some of their most recognisable designs. It is worn by Anne Hathaway in the film and was reduced by 15 to 20 percent of its original size to fit the actress (as it was originally designed for a man). In the film the “Toussaint” is comprised of white colourless diamonds with the coloured diamonds replaced with zirconium oxides mounted in white gold.
Other Cartier jewels including those from the Panthère collection also feaure in the film
Cartier
In addition to the “Toussaint”, the Cartier Mansion at New York’s Fifth Avenue is the location of several major scenes and other jewellery collections from the Maison were loaned for those making cameo appearances in the film.
Set for release on 21 June, it sounds like Ocean’s 8 is worth watching for the stunning jewels alone.