The El Retiro Invierno Collection by Carrera y Carrera
The El Retiro Park is one of the romantic places in Madrid. Legend has it that at the end of the 19th century, a young Cecilio Rodriguez, head gardener of the El Retiro Park, strolled hopelessly in love around the park grounds with his beloved, the youngest daughter of the Duke de Fernán Núñez, an owner of an important area of the garden.
His devotion to the girl was such that he decided to create a very special gift for her. He wrote and drew a botanical study, his project was the construction of a garden where his love would be cyclical and eternal, like the four seasons. The vegetation of the landscape was comprised of plants adapted to all seasons so that at any time of year, the parterres would remain in flower and the colours would change between months. More than a botanical garden, the project recreated a Garden of Eden, making it a reality.
But the young gardener’s great dream was destined to fail. His secret passion was discovered by the girl’s father, who instantly stopped the project of the garden of the four seasons. Immediately thereafter he fired Cecilio, forbidding him entry into the park for life.
The story of the garden of the four seasons has served as inspiration for the Carrera y Carrera designers and comes to life in the El Retiro collection.
Each line created within the collection tells its own tale. The Invierno line reveals how the architecture of the El Retiro park exists in harmony with nature. To create the futuristic-looking jewellery pieces with an unusual geometry of this new line named Iceberg, Carrera y Carrera designers drew inspiration from the Palacio de Cristal rising above Retiro pond.
Influenced by the famous Crystal Palace erected for the Great Exhibition of 1851 in Hyde Park, London, the Palacio de Cristal was built in 1887 to house flora as a part of an exhibition on the Philippines. Today, the palace made of glass and metal is used as one of the exhibition sites of the Reina Sofia Art Center.
Only noble materials have been selected for the Invierno line to recreate the play of light and its reflections and refractions within the Palacio de Cristal. The multifaceted, asymmetrical design of the pendants, rings and earrings crafted in white gold is decorated with a gorgeous pavé of white diamonds.
Just like winter, this part of the collection is monochrome, as if chained in ice. Only two pieces are accented with bright colour – a pendant and ring whose skeleton-like design is set off by a spectacular, intensely blue topaz.
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