Layers of love: Cartier’s timeless icon enters the age of stacking
Whether it’s diamond huggies climbing the ear, mixed metals draped along the décolletage, or contrasting bands stacked up to the knuckles, modern jewellery styling has embraced a singular truth: more is more, when it’s done with intention.
This article is sponsored by Cartier.
Whether it’s diamond huggies climbing the ear, mixed metals draped along the décolletage, or contrasting bands stacked up to the knuckles, modern jewellery styling has embraced a singular truth: more is more, when it’s done with intention.
For years, jewellery lovers have been quietly rewriting the style rulebook. Earrings no longer stop at the lobes. Bracelets and necklaces rarely appear alone. Rings seem to travel in small, glinting communities.
The rise of the modern stack
Layering, once a playful break from convention, has become the modern collector’s expression of style. Why choose between gold or white gold, minimal or statement diamond, vintage or contemporary, when you can weave them all into a single, expressive whole? With every stack, wearers compose a personal narrative, one that shifts subtly day to day, outfit to outfit, era to era. In this world, jewellery is no longer a final flourish – it’s the story itself. And the final result is as intentional as it is effortlessly chic.
This spirit of personalisation sits at the heart of Cartier’s latest evolution of one of the most recognisable designs in luxury: the Love bracelet. For more than half a century, the Love bracelet has been a symbol of devotion, locked onto the wrist with a screwdriver and exchanged with ceremony and intention. It’s one of the Maison’s most enduring icons: classic, recognisable and deeply symbolic.
The next chapter of an icon
But even icons must evolve. And in 2025, with the launch of Love Unlimited, Cartier invites a new generation to rediscover Love not as a singular, static statement, but as a dynamic part of a layered, personal stack. In this newly expanded universe, the Love bracelet sheds none of its sentimentality; instead, it gains fresh meaning. Where the original spoke to commitment, Love Unlimited speaks to individuality. Where the 1969 Love collection symbolised a bond between two, Love Unlimited makes space for self-expression.
With this shift, Cartier has evolved the Love design, positioning the collection as a compelling answer to both fashion’s stacking movement and the emotional layering of modern life.
It’s a transformation that begins with proportions. Love Unlimited refines the familiar silhouette, offering slimmer, softer expressions that lend themselves naturally to stacking. These fluid new iterations sit gracefully alongside the original Love, creating opportunities for interplay – between widths, metals and eras. A slim rose gold Love Unlimited might sit beside a yellow gold version, while a classic silver timepiece anchors it all. The effect is subtle yet impactful: a statement that’s more curated than crowded.
Love without limits: Cartier evolves for a new generation
Materials, too, have evolved. By introducing fresh combinations, Cartier gives wearers the flexibility to build stacks that feel deeply personal. The Love Unlimited collection invites mixing vintage treasures with new pieces, stacking symbols of past moments alongside gestures to the future. The combination creates a sense of “unlimitedness” both in style and sentiment.
In fashion, layering has always been a way to subtly lean into maximalism – to take clean lines and add depth, texture and contrast. In jewellery, stacking does the same but with an added dimension: sentiment. An heirloom sits beside a recent gift, a milestone purchase meets a spontaneous indulgence. Together they form not just a stack, but a story.
Cartier recognises this with the design of its Love Unlimited range. The proportions have been engineered to nestle smoothly together and the finishes crafted to complement rather than compete. This is jewellery that’s built to be mixed, stacked, rearranged and revisited. It mirrors the fluidity of modern luxury: effortless, expressive, adaptable – and with a touch of sparkle.
But the Love Unlimited pieces can also be worn alone, in the way the original Love was often intended – although their power emerges fully when combined. Matched with other Cartier designs or pieces from a wearer’s own collection, they reveal a different side. There is room, always, for reinvention.
The trend toward stacking also mirrors a broader cultural shift. Jewellery is no longer about a single defining piece, it’s about assembling – daily, seasonally, emotionally – a combination that reflects who you are in that moment. Love Unlimited meets this flexibility with style and heritage. It honours the past while recognising that modern identity is layered and continually evolving.
Most importantly, Cartier’s reimagining expands what it means for an icon to endure. Timelessness, in the Maison’s view, is not achieved through sameness but through adaptability.
In the end, layering is not merely a fashion technique – it’s a metaphor for how we live now. Cartier’s Love Unlimited captures this beautifully. It’s Love, expanded; love, reframed. Or rather – Love without limits.
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The Love Unlimited collection is now available in Cartier boutiques and cartier.com
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