Why mixing metals is making a comeback on watches and jewellery: Cartier refreshes its Trinity design, Bulgari collaborates with K-pop star Lisa of Blackpink ... and for Rolex, it never went away

While not everyone is a fan of pairing different types of metals on their watches and jewellery, it allows the wearer to be more versatile in expression and attire For Marie-Laure Cérède, creative director of watches and jewellery at Cartier, it was no mean feat to tinker with a design as recognisable as the Cartier Trinity. Last year marked the 100th anniversary of the deceptively simple design: three intertwined bands of white, rose and yellow gold, worn by everyone from Jean Cocteau to Grace Kelly. As Cérède told journalists at celebrations in Paris, it is “hard to reinvent an icon, something that’s already perfect”.

{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"ImageObject","caption":"The harmony of mixed metals is a major part of the allure of Cartier’s Trinity design. Photo: Handout","url":"https://img.



i-scmp.com/cdn-cgi/image/fit=contain,width=1024,format=auto/sites/default/files/d8/images/canvas/2025/01/22/fd35095c-71fc-4582-8f34-7efc1db32575_215b5558.jpg"} The harmony of mixed metals is a major part of the allure of Cartier’s Trinity design.

Photo: Handout Advertisement “When we thought about redesigning Trinity, we realised that it wouldn’t be easy. It’s an icon because it’s perfect and Trinity is very unique in its signature, so we started asking ourselves what the fundamentals of Trinity are: three intertwined bands. But what are the other fundamentals of this ring, besides the meaning? Everyone plays with it, like a fidget toy, so we wanted to keep that and also to say something else [ .

.. but] not something completely different from what already exists.

” While the maison introduced new shapes for the Trinity, including a square cushion-shaped ring, the harmony of the mixed metals remains. {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"ImageObject","caption":"Spinelli Kilcollin makes linked rings in combinations of silver, shades of gold and precious stones.

Photo: Handout","url":"https://img.i-scmp.com/cdn-cgi/image/fit=contain,width=1024,format=auto/sites/default/files/d8/images/canvas/2025/01/22/60a144a5-df1e-4c07-8efc-20a04ae1ab41_57b28def.

jpg"} Spinelli Kilcollin makes linked rings in combinations of silver, shades of gold and precious stones. Photo: Handout Cartier isn’t the only jeweller to play with mixed metals. Some, such as Los Angeles-based Spinelli Kilcollin, have made it their signature with linked rings in seemingly endless combinations of silver, shades of gold and precious stones, worn by everyone from Meryl Streep to Emily Ratajkowski.

The art of mixing metals – not to everybody’s tastes , it must be noted – is resonating in the watch world too. According to reports from the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry, there has been a decline in Swiss exports of stainless steel watches (down 15 per cent in the first half of 2024) and an increase in bi-metal watches – those in yellow or rose gold with a steel bracelet, usually with gold links – as well as precious metal watches. {"@context":"https://schema.

org","@type":"ImageObject","caption":"The two-toned Bvlgari Bvlgari watch is a result of Bulgari’s collaboration with K-pop star Lisa from Blackpink. Photo: Handout","url":"https://img.i-scmp.

com/cdn-cgi/image/fit=contain,width=1024,format=auto/sites/default/files/d8/images/canvas/2025/01/22/a1b74721-a90b-42d9-9729-c82146149e85_a6d3bd5c.jpg"} The two-toned Bvlgari Bvlgari watch is a result of Bulgari’s collaboration with K-pop star Lisa from Blackpink. Photo: Handout The trend speaks to a shift towards value over volume, and perhaps too an evolution of tastes.

After all, two-tone watches were big in the 1980s, and that much-maligned era has made a triumphant return in both watchmaking and fashion..