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Aman Kyoto: Where the Forest Keeps a Secret

There is a moment, about thirty minutes after you leave Kyoto Station, when the city simply lets go of you. The streets thin, the roofs lower, the hills lean in, and somewhere past a bend you could easily miss, a gate opens onto a garden that has been quietly minding its own business for four hundred years. This is Aman Kyoto, and it does not announce itself. It waits, like the best people do.

I should confess something. I lived in Tokyo for a year, so I consider myself fluent in Japanese quiet: the polite, pressed, impeccably folded kind. This hillside hideaway speaks a different dialect altogether. This is the quiet of a place that has been left alone, and it hit me somewhere between the gate and the first moss-covered step. I arrived with a to-do list. It lasted until the moss.

A Garden That Became a Hotel

The story begins long before the hotel. The land was once the garden of a textile museum, part of the same northern hills where an artistic community gave rise to the Rinpa school of painting centuries ago. When the brand came to build, the late Kerry Hill, the architect behind Aman Tokyo and Amanemu, did something very few architects have the humility to do: he mostly stepped out of the way. The retreat, which opened in November 2019, was among his last projects.

His black timber pavilions, topped with zinc roofs, sit lightly on the garden’s old terraced platforms, so the architecture feels discovered rather than built. Paths of stone blanketed in moss thread between them. A small stream murmurs along the edge. At the heart of it all lies a formal lawn, named the Kerry Hill Garden in his honor, where sculptural boulders rest as if placed there by a patient giant with excellent taste.

Inside, there is no ornament shouting for attention. The palette is muted, the lines are low and calm, and the furniture is custom-made and quietly extraordinary. The 26 rooms take their cue from the old Japanese inn, with glass that lets the forest walk right in. Pajamas are folded on the bed. Moss-green umbrellas wait by the door, so you can wander out into the rain looking like part of the landscape. (They are, I should note, the most photogenic things I have ever been lent and expected to return.)

Spring to Autumn, and Everything in Between

The garden is a clock, and it tells the time in color. In spring the green is so new it looks wet. By summer it deepens into something dense and humming, the forest turned all the way up. And in autumn, the maples do what Kyoto’s maples have always done: they go crimson, slowly and then all at once, until the moss glows against a wall of red.

I came in late September, at the hinge of the year, when the green is still holding on but you can feel it thinking about crimson. A single leaf at the edge of the path had already made up its mind. It felt like being let in on a secret.

Water, Warmth, and the Sound of Rain

Beneath the grounds flows natural spring water, and the resort’s spa has made the most of it with traditional onsen bathing, indoors and out. I lowered myself into the water as the afternoon light went soft, steam lifting into the trees, and felt a year of airports leave my shoulders. Treatments draw on local ingredients, from Kyoto green tea to camellia oil, and the pace is deliciously unhurried.

Then came the rain. At night it arrived on the roof and the leaves, a steady, tender percussion that no playlist on earth has managed to replicate. I lay in the dark with the garden breathing outside the glass and, for the first time in weeks, did absolutely nothing. At sunset, the lanterns come on along the paths, and the whole estate turns amber and hushed, as if the day has been gently put to bed.

Tea, Properly

There is tea, and then there is tea in the forest. Tucked into the garden is a small tea house called Senkutsu, and a private ceremony there is, to my mind, non-negotiable. Dressed in a kimono, I knelt while the green tea was whisked and presented with a calm that made my own pulse slow to match. Every gesture was precise and unhurried. Nothing was for show. It is the closest I have come to understanding that in Japan, tea is less a drink than a way of paying attention.

The ritual returned after dinner at Taka-an, the Japanese restaurant, named in homage to the artist Honami Koetsu. I sat at the counter for an omakase sushi dinner, watching the chefs work with the focus of surgeons and the grace of dancers, each piece handed over at the exact moment it should be eaten. Tea afterward felt like a full stop to a perfectly written sentence.

And then, because I am a person with weaknesses, there was the muskmelon shaved ice. I will say it plainly: I came for the architecture and stayed for the shaved ice. Fragrant, cold, and absurdly delicate, it dissolved on the tongue like a summer you didn’t want to end.

Breakfast, Which Deserves Its Own Paragraph

I have eaten breakfast at some of Tokyo’s best hotels. I say this with authority and a mild sense of betrayal: the Japanese breakfast here was my absolute favorite of my entire Japan trip. Perhaps it was the setting, the garden washed in early light, the small bowls arriving one by one. Perhaps it was that I had slept like a stone. Either way, I would fly back for it.

The Golden Neighbor

Just over half a mile from the gates stands Kinkaku-ji, the Golden Pavilion, glittering on its pond like a rumor of wealth. It is breathtaking, and it is also, let us say, popular. The beauty of staying so close is that you can visit the gold and then retreat to the green, which is quite a lot more restful.

Leaving

Departure comes too soon, and gently, which somehow makes it worse. The car pulls away, the moss recedes, and the city rushes back in with its noise and its neon. But a little of the forest stays with you. Aman Kyoto is not a hotel you stay in so much as a feeling you carry out: the sound of rain, the weight of a tea bowl, a quiet that has finally learned your name.

Images courtesy of Aman.

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The Extraordinary Gemstones Driving High Jewellery Forward

Exceptional gemstones are driving fresh creative ambition in high jewellery, with leading maisons transforming rare natural materials into increasingly expressive designs. In 2026, exceptional sapphires and emeralds have inspired creations that combine advanced craftsmanship, distinctive colour and historic design codes. Their significance extends beyond carat weight: the stories, origins and creative decisions surrounding these stones increasingly shape their appeal.

The Gemological Institute of America’s reporting from the 2026 Tucson gem shows identified interest in selected fancy-colour sapphires and precision cutting, while documenting differences in supply and demand across the trade. This specialist snapshot offers useful context, rather than evidence of a universal boom in gemstone prices.

Five creations demonstrate different forms of momentum. Graff foregrounds an exceptional Sri Lankan sapphire, Bvlgari explores unusual colour, Cartier and Van Cleef & Arpels reinterpret historic jewellery traditions, and Tiffany & Co. shows how a celebrated diamond can remain culturally relevant across generations.

Graff’s latest High Jewellery campaign celebrates exceptional colour, pairing rare sapphires and emeralds with diamonds through the House’s stone-led craftsmanship. Image courtesy of Graff.

Graff: An Exceptional Sapphire Takes Centre Stage

Graff’s September 2026 Art of Colour campaign highlighted a necklace featuring a 118-carat cushion-cut, unheated Sri Lankan sapphire. Its saturated blue colour anchors a composition of more than 54 carats of diamonds, demonstrating the British jeweller’s approach to designing around the natural character of a principal stone.

A three-carat pear-shaped diamond sits above a sunray arrangement of baguette diamonds, creating contrasts of light and scale without competing with the sapphire. The setting calls attention to the rarity of a gemstone of such size and quality that has not undergone heat treatment.

Rather than treating the stone as an interchangeable centrepiece, Graff allows its colour, proportions and presence to guide the design. This approach illustrates how exceptional natural material can create an opportunity for artistic and technical refinement. The necklace featured in the September campaign, although its precise first unveiling date has not been established; it should therefore be regarded as a 2026 campaign highlight rather than a confirmed new launch.

Inspired by Rome’s hidden courtyards at sunset, Bvlgari’s Secret Garden transforms coloured gemstones into a richly layered high jewellery composition. Image courtesy of Bvlgari.

Bvlgari: The Creative Possibilities of Rare Colour

Bvlgari’s Eclettica collection, unveiled in March 2026, connects high jewellery with painting, architecture and sculpture. The Secret Garden necklace centres on a 26.65-carat Sri Lankan Padparadscha sapphire, prized for the delicate interplay of pink and orange that distinguishes this rare sapphire variety.

Inspired by Rome’s hidden courtyards at sunset, the design surrounds the central stone with emeralds, purple sapphires, diamonds and onyx. Contrasting colours provide depth and movement, while the composition captures the Roman house’s unmistakably expressive approach to gemstone combinations.

Bvlgari’s Secret Garden necklace centres on a rare 26.65-carat Padparadscha sapphire, surrounded by emeralds, sapphires, onyx and diamonds.

Under jewellery creative director Lucia Silvestri, the stone becomes more than a demonstration of rarity. Its nuanced colour informs the necklace’s artistic language, allowing the maison to build a complete design around a distinctive natural characteristic. The piece belongs to a collection of more than 160 jewellery and watch creations, reflecting Bvlgari’s continuing exploration of colour and unconventional materials.

For collectors, the appeal lies in the meeting of gemological rarity with a recognisable design identity. The result provides a contemporary counterpoint to historic pieces whose significance developed over decades.

Cartier’s Tutti Kanya necklace with emeralds, sapphire, ruby and diamonds. Image courtesy of Cartier.

Cartier: A Historic Design Language Evolves

Cartier’s 2026 Le Chœur des Pierres collection explores the expressive possibilities of gemstones through more than 125 unique creations. Among them, the Tutti Kanya necklace features a 30.33-carat engraved Zambian emerald alongside carved rubies, sapphires and emeralds.

Its intricate composition draws on the maison’s Tutti Frutti design language, which emerged in the early twentieth century through colourful carved stones influenced by Indian jewellery traditions. The new creation revisits that vocabulary through contemporary workmanship rather than simply reproducing an archival design.

Floral motifs formed from carved gemstones give the necklace texture and movement. A detachable ruby tassel and a central motif that can also be worn as a brooch introduce versatility, making transformability an integral part of the design. These details place technical construction alongside aesthetic ambition.

The collection reportedly required approximately 85,000 hours of work across Cartier’s designers and artisans. Tutti Kanya shows how the momentum of high jewellery can come from revisiting an established aesthetic and discovering new ways to interpret it, with important coloured stones guiding the process.

Van Cleef & Arpels Princesse du Nil necklace. Image courtesy of Van Cleef & Arpels.

Van Cleef & Arpels: Emeralds Reimagine the Past

Van Cleef & Arpels looked to ancient Egyptian culture for its Fascinating Egypt high jewellery collection, unveiled in June 2026. The Princesse du Nil necklace, one of its central creations, takes inspiration from a historic emerald-and-diamond collaret associated with Princess Faiza of Egypt.

The contemporary interpretation features ten Colombian emerald drops totalling 107.37 carats, complemented by seven natural white pearls weighing approximately 85.13 carats. White gold, platinum and yellow gold bring the stones together in a composition that reflects the maison’s long engagement with history and ornament.

Developed as part of a collection of 180 creations over four years, the necklace transforms an archival reference into a present-day expression of high jewellery. Its importance lies in the relationship between research, gemstone selection and the decisions required to reinterpret a historic silhouette.

Unlike a simple recreation, the piece draws on an earlier design while allowing extraordinary emeralds and pearls to shape its current form. It demonstrates how jewellery heritage can remain a source of contemporary creative momentum, connecting cultural memory with the skill of present-day artisans.

Tiffany & Co.’s 128.54-carat Tiffany Yellow Diamond, surrounded by five diamond-encrusted birds in a Bird on a Rock-inspired setting unveiled in 2023. Image courtesy of Tiffany & Co.

Tiffany & Co.: The Continuing Life of a Historic Diamond

Contemporary launches offer one perspective on innovation; the Tiffany Yellow Diamond shows how an existing gemstone can acquire new cultural meaning. Discovered in South Africa in 1877 and acquired by Charles Lewis Tiffany the following year, the 287.42-carat rough was cut into a 128.54-carat cushion-shaped brilliant.

The diamond’s appearances have contributed to its enduring recognition. Audrey Hepburn wore it for Breakfast at Tiffany’s promotional photographs, Lady Gaga at the 2019 Academy Awards and Beyoncé in the maison’s 2021 About Love campaign.

In 2023, Tiffany unveiled a Bird on a Rock-inspired setting to mark the reopening of its Fifth Avenue flagship, The Landmark. Requiring nearly 2,000 hours of craftsmanship, it allows the diamond to be worn as a pendant or brooch.

The gemstone is not a 2026 launch, but its inclusion provides historical perspective. Successive settings and appearances have kept a nineteenth-century discovery connected to contemporary culture, illustrating a different form of momentum: the renewal of an established legacy.

Lady Gaga at the 2019 Academy Awards wearing the 128.54-carat Tiffany Yellow Diamond Necklace. Image courtesy of Shutterstock.

The Momentum Behind Exceptional Gemstones

These five creations reveal that high jewellery’s progress takes several forms. Rare stones can inspire entirely new designs, while historic motifs and celebrated treasures gain fresh significance through technical ingenuity and reinterpretation.

For collectors, provenance, craftsmanship and cultural context can be as compelling as colour and carat weight. Their importance also demands discernment: each gemstone’s quality and history must be assessed on its own merits, beyond the prominence of the maison presenting it.

High jewellery’s momentum ultimately rests on more than the discovery of remarkable stones. It lies in the ability to transform them into creations whose stories continue to evolve long after their unveiling.Exceptional gemstones are attracting renewed attention within the world of high jewellery, as collectors place growing importance on rarity, provenance and historical significance. According to Christie’s – one of the world’s leading auction houses founded in London, demand for coloured gemstones surged in 2026, particularly for emeralds, rubies and sapphires, with Asia and the Middle East expected to drive further interest in 2026. Alongside this growing demand, historic creations and exceptional stones with distinguished provenance continue to command attention among collectors.

For the world’s most prestigious jewellery houses, this growing interest reinforces the significance of gemstones that have shaped their identities across generations. Their remarkable characteristics, craftsmanship and distinguished provenance have established milestones that continue to influence each maison’s legacy. Through cultural reinterpretations, historic acquisitions and renewed collector attention, these creations continue to acquire further significance.

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