CARTIER: Melbourne Winter Masterpieces® 2026 at the National Gallery of Victoria belongs firmly in the latter.

Exclusive to Melbourne, this Australian-exclusive presentation brings together nearly 400 extraordinary jewels, timepieces and precious objects, alongside original design drawings, sketchbooks and archival photographs that reveal the creative journey behind one of the world’s most celebrated jewellery houses. Created by the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, in partnership with the National Gallery of Victoria and in collaboration with Cartier, the exhibition explores the Maison’s remarkable evolution through more than 125 years of exceptional creations.

Walking through its galleries feels less like visiting an exhibition and more like stepping inside the history of one of the world’s greatest jewellery houses. Thoughtfully curated and beautifully presented, every room reveals another chapter in Cartier’s remarkable story, reminding visitors why the Maison continues to define the language of high jewellery.

Founded in Paris in 1847 by Louis-François Cartier, the Maison has spent nearly two centuries shaping jewellery history through exceptional craftsmanship, technical innovation and an unrivalled appreciation for extraordinary gemstones. This exhibition captures that legacy beautifully.

A Grand Welcome

The journey begins with a magnificent tiara welcoming visitors into the world of Cartier. It is an elegant introduction to what lies ahead, immediately setting the tone for an exhibition filled with history, craftsmanship and remarkable gemstones.

The Early Years

Among the earliest masterpieces is the exquisite Lily stomacher brooch from 1906 along with stomacher brooch 1913, showcasing the refined elegance that defined Cartier’s early twentieth-century creations.

Soon after comes the celebrated Berenice Tiara, completed in 1925 and centred on an extraordinary 141-carat Mughal emerald. It is a remarkable example of Cartier’s ability to transform historically significant gemstones into timeless works of art.

Cartier’s Golden Age

The 1930s are particularly well represented throughout the exhibition, reflecting one of the most creative periods in Cartier’s history.

One of the highlights is the spectacular 143-carat carved emerald necklace created in 1932 for Beatrice Mills, perfectly demonstrating the Maison’s fascination with exceptional gemstones.

Nearby, visitors encounter the celebrated jade necklace commissioned for Barbara Hutton, alongside the magnificent 148-carat diamond necklace created in 1934 for a member of the Sassoon family.

Then comes one of Cartier’s most recognisable design languages: Tutti Frutti.

Created in 1936 for the legendary Daisy Fellowes, the necklace is a masterpiece of color and imagination. Incorporating gemstones from her own Tutti Frutti bracelet, it combines more than 240 carats of sapphires with carved emeralds, rubies and diamonds. In 1963 her daughter Comtesse de Casteja remodelled the necklace with Cartier.

Legendary Clients, Legendary Jewels

As the exhibition progresses, so do the extraordinary stories behind Cartier’s most celebrated commissions.

Elizabeth Taylor’s iconic ruby and diamond necklace from 1957 is among the unforgettable highlights.

For me, however, the undeniable star of the exhibition was the extraordinary serpent necklace created in 1968 for María Félix.

Set with 178 carats of diamonds, the articulated snake is one of Cartier’s most iconic creations, embodying both technical mastery and fearless creativity.

Nearby, another legendary commission for the Mexican actress commands equal attention: her famous crocodile necklace, completed in 1975 and set with 66 carats of emeralds and 60 carats of fancy yellow diamonds. These extraordinary pieces perfectly capture the unique relationship between Cartier and its most visionary clients.

The exhibition also presents faithful recreations of two of Cartier’s most celebrated commissions: the legendary Patiala Necklace and the magnificent Toussaint Necklace, allowing visitors to appreciate two creations that have become part of jewellery history.

A Fitting Finale

The exhibition concludes with what is undoubtedly one of its most breathtaking galleries: a room dedicated entirely to Cartier tiaras.

Although spanning more than a century of design, seeing these creations brought together in one space is a fitting finale to the exhibition.

Among my personal favourites is the radiant Sun Tiara, created in 1907, alongside one of Cartier’s most recent masterpieces, the emerald cabochon tiara completed in 2017 and centred on an extraordinary 140-carat emerald.

Standing before these creations, it becomes clear that Cartier’s approach to jewellery has always been about far more than precious materials. It is about imagination, craftsmanship and creating objects that transcend generations.

Beyond the individual jewels, what makes CARTIER: Melbourne Winter Masterpieces® 2026 so memorable is the way it tells Cartier’s story through its creations. These are not simply beautiful objects displayed behind glass. They are witnesses to history, symbols of extraordinary craftsmanship and expressions of the remarkable relationships between Cartier and some of the world’s most influential collectors.

Whether you are captivated by exceptional gemstones, fascinated by jewellery history or simply appreciate beautiful craftsmanship, this is an exhibition that deserves to be experienced.

This is not simply an exhibition of jewellery.

It is an exhibition of excellence.

Gemfields Group is consisting of Faberge (100%), Kagem Emerald Mine in Zambia (75%) and Montepuez Ruby Mine in Mozambique (75%).

After the introduction, Gemfields were too happy to invite and host us on an 8-day trip to visit their Kagem Emerald Mine in Zambia! Conference calls later, our itineraries were booked and fast forward to October 2022, vaccinated and packed, I was ready for my first ever trip to Africa and first mine visit.

Over 24 hours of travel via Singapore Airlines from Melbourne to Johannesburg, I arrived in Johannesburg airport and reunited with my partner in bling, Tracey (AKA TheDiamondsGirl). We were joined by Beatrice from Gemfields London office, and our main journey to Ndola, Zambia started! A short flight later, we all arrived in Ndola located in the northern part of Zambia. Over night stay in Ndola was much needed to be ready for our drive to Kagem Emerald Mine in the morning. Later that evening, Gillian joined our group, she runs a successful PR firm in Lusaka and Gemfields is one of her clients.

Our drive from Ndola to Kagem took approximately 4 hours and we finally arrived at Kagem Emerald Mine. Located in the district of Lufwanyama in Copperbelt Province of Zambia, the area is enriched with natural resources of Copper.

I honestly couldn’t believe that I am finally here at the world’s largest emerald mine! Kagem is supplying over 30% of global emerald demand. After induction meetings and going through security measures, it was time for us to drive to the pit. Gemfields Kagem Emerald Mine has 3 operating open pit mines: Chama, Chibolele, Fibolele. Chama open pit mine is 2.2 km long and 140m deep and is supplying around 25% of global emerald production. Arriving at Chama open pit mine, the scale was mind blowing, and we had the chance to drive down into the pit where heavy machinery were moving the waste rocks, ores and chisel men discovering emeralds! To see it firsthand how an emerald is unearthed was such a remarkable experience. They were kind enough to hand us the very recent emeralds that they unearthed, knowing it is their first encounter with light after being in darkness for the past 500 million years only adds to the romance of gems…

Following our mine visit, next stop was the wash house where emeralds and rocks from mine are transferred to be washed and separated on huge conveyor belts. I managed to spot emeralds among all the rocks and ores, you can see the video on my Zambia highlights on my Instagram page. We stayed at the accommodation provided on the mine site where all the employees stay during their weekly/monthly shifts. Dinner was held at the Lake House with most of the employees and management team in attendance and we finally met Sean Gilbertson, CEO of Gemfields Group who mesmerized us all by his vast knowledge of mining and passion for emeralds and rubies.

The next morning started by visiting the sort house. Jackson the manager of the sort house has been at Kagem for the past 28 years and talks and breathes emeralds. His incomparable knowledge and experience is a true asset to Kagem. He managed to take us through every step of sorting and separating emerald from the host rock to piles of recovered emerald that have been sorted, washed, oiled and ready to be taken to the auction. Kagem has its own proprietary grading system which provides a true evaluation and declaration of treatment and is trusted and respected by the industry. Kagem also partnered with Gübelin and introduced provenance proof (paternity test) technology that provides traceability using DNA-based nanoparticles. In a nutshell while emeralds are at the sort house, an invisible layer of special nanoparticles are inserted within the inclusions which remains in the stone throughout polishing and cutting. When an emerald with that specific process makes it way to Gübelin for grading, Gübelin gemologists can determine it was mined at Kagem and trace it back to the source.

To give you a better perspective on rarity and scarcity of emeralds, yield out of 100 tons of waste is only 1 ton of ore which only 50 grams of emerald and beryl mix is recovered from that ore, and 0.3 grams of premium emerald is recovered on average from the emerald and beryl mix.

Note: There is a NO CAMERA policy throughout the mine site and operating facilities, but we were granted special permission to carry our camera/phones everywhere and provided access to restricted areas to record and film as we wished, and share our unbiased opinion of the mine and its practices.

Rest of the day spent driving around the area and visiting community projects as part of Kagem social sustainability program; building schools, hospitals and sponsoring agricultural initiatives. We managed to interact with school principals and teachers and have a better understanding of how community projects are vital for the area and locals to thrive.

1% of Kagem Emerald Mine revenue is allocated to fund community and conservation projects. Delivering long term benefits to local community in health, education and livelihood is part of Kagem three key values: Transparency, Legitimacy and Integrity.

25% of Kagem is owned by Zambian Government and 75% by Gemfields. Gemfields took over Kagem back in 2008 and as of 2022, Kagem has 1250 direct employees and 413 employees through contractors. As per interim report dated June 30 2022, Kagem first half-year auction revenues totalled in $85.2 million, an all time record high for Kagem. Since the first auction in July 2009, 41 auctions have taken place which generated $835.3 million in total revenues. All this information is available to public through Gemfields website. Kagem produced 109.6 thousand carats of premium quality emeralds for the six months ended June 30th 2022 while handling 5.8 million tonnes of rocks and waste.

Our last evening coincided with award ceremony which was held to recognize employees for their efforts. And followed by an eye opening speech by Sean Gilbertson, CEO of Gemfields about ethical mining practices, social responsibility, immense growth of revenue and vision for the future. Great way to say goodbye to Kagem Emerald Mine. (You can watch snippets of the speech on my Instagram Zambia highlights)

The next day, four of us embarked on an all day trip from Kagem to Ndola, Ndola to Lusaka and Lusaka to Livingstone! By evening we were standing on the Zambezi river in the beautiful town of Livingstone. Spent two days visiting the Victoria Falls, cruising Zambezi river to see wild life and stayed in the most wonderful hotel: The Royal Livingstone Hotel with wild life roaming the grounds.

Eventually had to say goodbye to the beautiful Africa and head home but still after 6 weeks since the trip, I am reeling on the wonderful and unforgettable memories.

Goodbye Africa! with Tracey aka TheDiamondsGirl

My sincere thanks to Eshed Gemstar for the initial introduction, Gemfields Group, Kagem Mining Ltd, management and the whole team in London and Ndola for arranging everything, their warm welcome and outstanding hospitality during this trip, making this experience an unforgettable one!

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A post shared by CHAMPAGNE GEM®️by Bebe Bakhshi (@champagnegem)

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A post shared by CHAMPAGNE GEM®️by Bebe Bakhshi (@champagnegem)

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by CHAMPAGNE GEM®️by Bebe Bakhshi (@champagnegem)

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(the year of pandemic which caused cancelation of many award shows)

*Please contact me for image credit correction.

In my opinion couples need to be involved in designing the ring, after all it is celebrating their love and has a very sentimental value in cherishing their relationship. Therefore my first recommendation is to propose with a loose stone in a beautiful box which will definitely sweep her off her feet and then create the perfect ring together. Unless you know exactly what she is looking for based on her pinterest or posts she likes on social media and finally if her best friend knows!

Different diamond shapes Photo credit: Champagne Gem

Here you will find a brief explanation on different shapes with sample designs to show how each one will look when set, but remember there are endless design possibilities, I tried to limit this post to classics and all time favorite settings in the past decade:

ROUND

• ROUND: is the most sought after shape in diamonds because of its incomparable brilliance thanks to 57 facets that reflect the light and create sparkle and fire. (Not recommended for gemstones unless from a very high caliber)

Round Brilliant diamond engagement ring in Tiffany anniversary setting Photo credit: Tiffany & Co

SEMI ROUND

• OVAL: is one of the most popular shapes from diamonds to gemstones, make sure in diamonds there is no bow tie present, if so you will see two black triangles in the middle of the stone. because of its elongated shape we have seen it grow more and more on brides.

Oval shape diamond ring Photo credit: Norman Silverman

• PEAR: Usually looks larger than its stated carat weight because of its wider spread and given that more of the stone is shown from top view.
  

  Pear shaped diamond ring Photo credit: Harry Kotlar

• MARQUISE: like oval and pear is perfect to make fingers look slender and long, their elongated shape is helping with this.

Marquise shape diamond ring Photo credit: Martin Katz

• HEART: well its the symbol of love, do I need to say more? From diamonds to gemstones it looks gorgeous, one thing to be mindful is the proportions. Make sure it is not too slim or chubby, it has to be the perfect heart.
  

  Heart shaped diamond ring Photo credit: Graff

SQUARE CUT

• CUSHION: is a square or square rectangle (elongated) shape stone with rounded corners, pillow shape hence the name and very romantic! If cut perfectly can shine as brilliant as a round. Usually has 58 facets.
  

  Cushion shape diamond ring Photo credit: Tiffany & Co

• PRINCESS: this shape carries 57 or 76 facets and because of its pyramidal shape that has four bevelled sides, it creates more light dispersion than any other square shaped diamond. In recent years demand for princess cut has decreased which I think is solely because of its sharp corners and it only makes an statement when is in larger carat weights. It is getting harder and harder to find the perfect princess cut.
  

  Princess shape diamond ring Photo credit: Jean Dousset

• RADIANT: is gaining more and more popularity both in diamonds and gemstones because of its scattered 70 facets that create a shattered glassy look in diamonds and bring out the best colors in gemstones and fancy color diamonds. If you like square or rectangular squere shape, this is the best alternative to cushion and princess.
  

  Radiant cut diamond ring Photo credit: Norman Silverman

STEP CUT

• EMERALD: the most favorite in step cuts, both gemstones and diamonds although it has less sparkle because of geometric steps, but due to high clarity it is more transparent, sleek and elegant.
  

  Emerald cut diamond ring Photo credit: Norman Silverman

• ASSCHER/SQUARE EMERALD: perfectly square shaped stone, actually an octagonal rather than emerald cut that is rectangular. Same characteristics in terms of sparkle and clarity.
  

  Asscher cut diamond ring Photo credit: Martin Katz

• CARRE: comes in both square and rectangular, the main point of difference is its straight facets similar to steps and usually has sharp corners, this is my favorite shape in comparison to princess. It is making a come back slowly and because of its unusual facets it is gaining more attraction, absolutely will make a statement.
  

  Carre cut diamond ring Photo credit: Martin Katz

This is just an introductory post to engagement rings, if you need more information on diamonds, grading and color diamonds on following links:

https://champagnegem.com/2019/03/10/insight-into-diamonds-part-iii-grading/

https://champagnegem.com/2019/05/06/insight-into-diamonds-part-iv-fancycolordiamonds/

Please note all views expressed on this post are my own and do not represent opinions of any of the jewellers mentioned in this post.