Tasaki’s new high jewellery collection is fabulously flamboyant

Pearls don’t need to be boring or conservative. This is something we’ve learned over the past decade as perfectly imperfect baroque pearls have increased in popularity, and cutting-edge designs using pearls have emerged. Now, Japanese pearl expert Tasaki has taken this narrative one step further with its Tasaki Atelier Living Nature high jewellery collection.

Rather than rely on unusually shaped pearls such as baroques or keshi pearls to deliver points of interest, Tasaki has used those classic round pearls in unexpected ways to create designs that it says are inspired by the beauty of nature and express “the brilliance and strength of life filled with hope”.

Colour is a major theme in Tasaki Atelier Living Nature. Bold designs are pepped up with rainbows of colour, created through unusual gem combinations. For example, within the Ore chapter of the collection – which takes inspiration from an imagined post-volcanic-eruption landscape – asymmetric pearl earrings that cover the entirety of the ears are adorned with pink opal, aquamarine and peridot. Though strikingly modern, these earrings play with jewellery norms as the coloured gems are looped by either diamond or pearl bezels that nod to traditional cluster settings.

Another colourful chapter, Sunset Glow – inspired by sunsets in the desert – uses chequerboards of emerald-cut aquamarines, citrines and amethyst to stir emotions through colour. These hang, framed by diamonds, from drop earrings that are topped and tailed with creamy-white pearls.

An exceptional Forest Valley necklace within the Tasaki Atelier Living Nature high jewellery collection intersperses dark Tahitian and white Akoya pearls amongst a lattice-work of aquamarines, sapphires, tourmalines and beryls in a variety of mixed cuts. The colour palate is split between blue and green, creating a picture of lush nature at work.

For those who prefer the more minimalistic combination of pearls and precious metal – with a few diamonds, of course – there are less chromatic chapters within the high jewellery presentation that was first shown during Paris Couture Week in January. In these, Tasaki uses a grandeur of form to create show-stopping jewels. Elaborate pearl ear cuffs curl and swoop to create unexpected forms. Sharp geometric shapes or curving talons add an edge that makes these pearls feel more punk than preppy.

Whether it is the quirky colourful pearl designs that get your heart racing, or the architectural coolness of the metal-centric designs, Tasaki Atelier Living Nature high jewellery collection is certainly further proof – if proof were needed – that pearls can be flexible, fun and flamboyant.