Second skin

THE BEAUTY OF BONE STRUCTURE, the idea of a circuit, the intimacy of a sensory system.

Inspiration for jewellery can come in various ways, and in the case of Hermès' latest high jewellery collection, it is the sensuality of the human form and figure.

The body's exterior curves and crevices, its inner, intricate network of sensory systems, and even objects that listen to the body - such as the stethoscope - have fuelled the imagination for Lignes Sensibles - the French maison's sixth high jewellery collection since the category premiered in 2010.

Translated as ''sensitive lines'', the 45-piece collection from Pierre Hardy, Hermès' creative director for jewellery, comprises sensual necklaces, bracelets, brooches, rings and earrings that not only embellish the body, but also move with it, sometimes like a second skin.

''The entire collection is oriented towards intimacy,'' says Mr Hardy, explaining that he has tried to mark the passage between the interior and exterior with jewellery that are like ''small organs that emit sounds''.

He adds: ''I like the idea that you can choose a difierent anatomy, reinvent an intimate sensory system, like a wave that is made visible and given form by jewellery.''

To give full expression to these pieces which are unique in design and quietly confident in style, he chose gemstones in fiesh colours, close to the skin tone, in shades specific to the complexion, the lips or the iris. He also picked cloudy, milky materials to become ''one with the skin'', with most of the collection presented in rose gold.

''In my previous collections, the link with the body was achieved through metaphors, such as the chain. Here it is direct - the jewellery is closer than ever to the body itself. The pieces fit closely around the finger, around the neck, around the wrist. I wanted to return to this symbiosis - to be at one with the skin.''

This sensuality and softness is seen throughout the collection's five lines of jewellery.

À l'écoute showcases an array of harmonious colours in the form of blue tourmaline, smoky quartz, satin-brushed black jade and light brown and white diamonds. A distinctive necklace finds its shape in curves reminiscent of a stethoscope, while a remarkable hand jewellery is equally enthralling. The latter is a mystical combination of a ring and bracelet, and slides over the hand with the suppleness of a glove.

''I am passionate about inventing new forms of fiexibility that allow the hand to remain free and the fingers to bend,'' says Mr Hardy. ''I have sought to create a system of veins, like a fiow of water trickling through fingers.''

From the Ondes miroirs line comes a dramatic necklace where light brown diamonds run down the neck and adorn the chest. Meanwhile, a necklace made with 356 sapphires in graduated shades of green-blue, purple, yellow-orange and pastel pink from the Hermès Réseau lumière line sparkles and glides over the skin as it gently follows every curve.

In contrast, a cufi bracelet encrusted with quartz cabochons from the Hermès Faire corps line looks strong and weighty - like bone.

Then there is the pièce de resistance - Contre la peau - a collar necklace comprising 867 brilliant-cut diamonds in a rose gold latticework that sits ever so delicately on the contours of the neck. This stunner was created using minuscule triangles of gold interlocked with chatons in which the diamonds are set, forming a fiuid, lace-like mesh.

''Unusually, I didn't do a sketch,'' says Mr Hardy of the necklace. ''Instead, I had a strong intuition for a fiuid and fiexible texture that would envelop the neck like a caress. By working with meshing, we sought to create a fabric in metal. And we discovered that we had created the microscopic structure of skin, with its triangular micro-wrinkles. We had made skin! Skin in metal, gold and diamonds.''

Lignes Sensibles is available for viewing by appointment only from July 29 to August 8 at Hermès' Liat Towers store, Tel: 6738 9807