STYLE Edit: How the Celine Cesar Compression Project collection was inspired by smashing jewellery with a 150-ton hydraulic press

Think of your most sentimental possession. It could be a ring from a long lost lover, a locket from your great grandmother, a brooch passed down lovingly through the family tree.

Now, imagine it being crushed by 150 tons of force.

Specifically, this is the Celine Cesar Compression Project. To be fair, no family heirlooms were harmed in this particular collection, but the inspiration comes from sculptor César Baldaccini, who in 1971 did indeed collect old jewellery from friends and family – only to crush the pieces under a large-scale hydraulic press to make symbolic pendants.

Each totem piece is held on a retractable hook, which enables the pendant to be both a piece of jewellery and a sculptural piece. For the collaboration, the limited edition pieces are presented in a simple pine box hot-stamped with Cesar's signature. The box, as well, has dual meaning: as a utilitarian container for the pendant, and as a pedestal for the sculpture.

Hydraulic pressure may not be a house code, but Celine aligns with the sculptor's philosophy of paying homage to the individual through symbolic and artistic forms. As such, each pendant is individually numbered.

If you were privy to Celine's winter 2020 women's and men's show, you may have also noted the new Celine jewellery line, Les Cristaux Celine. Following in thematic suit with the idea of individuality, no two pieces are alike.

On the winter runway, military design met ruffles on unisex silk blouses, leather mingled with velvet, the 70s were revived and Slimane's Parisian muse was refreshed. But, upon closer inspection, tiger's eye and shungite hung as pendants, smoky quartz formed a statement cuff bracelet and amethyst graced a lapel as an oversized brooch.