“This is a new world,” says Cyrille Vigneron, president and CEO of Cartier, during a gala dinner he recently hosted on the gleaming shores of Lake Como, “and we must awaken all our senses to rediscover it.” The event marked the unveiling of Sixième Sens (“Sixth Sense”), the luxury house’s newest collection. He continues, “High jewelry belongs to the world of sensory stimulation. It magically awakens the senses with vivid emotions that move your heart.”

The Sixth Sense collection is both a renaissance, as Vigneron suggests, and timeless Cartier style, expressed in new ways. Since 1847, when the house was founded, that style has been captured in signature motifs, executed in original pieces with exceptional know-how—many of which are found in the first 90 pieces of the collection, which debuted in Italy in July. Revisiting the classics to honor their eternal appeal has been central to the strategy of Vigneron since he took the top job at Cartier, in 2016, and this heritage-based approach shines bright in the new collection.

Particularly radiant is the bold Pixelage necklace, an abstract rendition of a panther’s coat, one such classic that has graced Cartier’s creations since 1914. This time, the animal is reduced to its “pixelated” image in white and yellow diamonds, punctuated by touches of onyx and set around three golden topazes weighing at 27.34 carats. The Udyana necklace, composed of carved and sculpted emeralds, rubies, and sapphires, is another standout. Its design recalls Jacques Cartier’s travels across India, where, a century ago, he found inspiration in the exotic extravagance of jewels from the Mughal courts. Audacity is also a characteristic of Cartier’s style, found here in the Phaan ring, which features an 8.20-carat ruby set directly above a 4.01-carat rose-cut diamond. The clever tiered construct intensifies the blood-red hues of the ruby by catching the light that traverses the diamond underneath.

“High jewelry is mysterious because the precious stones capture millions of years of the earth’s energy,” Vigneron says. “They have the power to transform us by just touching the skin.”