Some cities wear their identities like jewellery. Paris glows with old-world polish, Singapore flashes with edge and energy. But Beijing? I hadn’t quite figured out Beijing. Not until last week, when I stepped off a flight into the crisp November air and immediately found myself pondering a question that felt almost like a riddle: What do Beijing and Cartier have in common?
It turns out: everything.
A morning wander through the Palace Museum—the vast, breathtakingly ordered Forbidden City—offered the first clue. Five hundred years of imperial geometry, all laid out with cosmic precision. Crimson walls, saffron rooflines, and that serene sense that the universe makes sense if you stand in exactly the right spot.
Cartier, it must be said, understands this instinctively. Structure and softness. Geometry and grace. Discipline and diamonds. Their new chapter of En Équilibre is built on this very paradox, and suddenly I realised Beijing speaks that language fluently.
At the Aman Summer Palace—still humming with history—we viewed the new high jewellery collection. Across the three segments—Colours, Rhythm and Volume—seven new creations were presented alongside designs from the inaugural chapter, each a meditation on craft, geometry and the maison’s enduring pursuit of balance. The pieces didn’t just sparkle; they spoke. Jewels, when done right, always do. More on this in the Dec/Jan issue of GRAZIA Singapore!
The next evening, Beijing’s other personality strutted forward. The gala at the ZGC International Innovation Centre—a futuristic temple of glass and steel—was ablaze with stars: Gong Li, Song Jia, Li Xian, Bai Jingting, Zhang Jingyi and Chang Chen.
On stage, Chinese superstar Na Ying’s surprise duet with Song Jia was the kind of moment that makes you forget you’re technically “working.” And on the runway, a constellation of supermodels turned the high jewellery into something kinetic—rhythm literally made visible.
Some cities—and some maisons—aren’t meant to be understood in one glance. Beijing thrives on duality: imperial yet innovative, ancient yet ambitious. Cartier’s En Équilibre does too. And perhaps that’s the lesson: true mastery isn’t about choosing between contrasts, but letting them coexist in thrilling tension.
In Beijing, Cartier found the perfect mirror. And in Cartier, Beijing found the sparkle that revealed its own balancing act—past, present, and the glittering liminal space in between.
This story first appeared on GRAZIA Singapore.
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