One well-placed accessory can make a bigger impression than your whole outfit—provided you choose the right one. It can’t be an obvious cry for attention; that’s just sad. It needs to draw people in slowly. To first invite and then demand a second look. It needs, in other words, to be something like the iconic Panthère de Cartier ring, which transforms the French maison’s symbolic animal into an appropriately sleek and streamlined piece of jewellery.
In real life, panthers are fully black versions of either the leopard or the jaguar. Don’t worry
about that. We’re not on the hunt for natural accuracy here; we’re going for visual impact.
Which is why our favourite versions of the ring are yellow gold with lacquered spots and garnet eyes, and a diamond-encrusted take in white gold.
Neither is the sort of thing you’re likely to see in the wild—unless it’s on your own fingers.