Nobody does Easter eggs quite like Taylor Swift; even Alfred Hitchcock himself would struggle to keep up with the layered meanings and inside-references that the record-breaking singer cooks up for each of her albums and, once again, her latest announcement has fans analysing every angle, including what could be behind her opulent Cartier necklace.
This week, the Anti-Hero singer appeared on her boyfriend Travis Kelce's podcast, New Heights, where she unveiled the news of her upcoming album, The Life of a Showgirl.
Sat next to Kelce, Swift indulged fans with details of her 12th studio album, which included the full track list and inspiration behind her new music, sharing how it demonstrated a marked departure from her last melancholic album, The Tortured Poets Department. "It just comes from the most infectiously joyful, wild, dramatic place I was in in my life, and so that effervescence has come through on this record," she said of her upcoming release.
The singer also revealed the cover for The Life of a Showgirl, which depicts Swift laying almost fully submerged in turquoise-blue water, dressed in a sparkling bejewelled-bodysuit from Area's spring/summer '22 collection. Swift could be seen wearing her own beautiful pieces while filming the podcast, but instead of dripping in crystals similar to those worn on her album cover, the songwriter chose gold jewellery – in particular, a Panthère de Cartier necklace.
Designed by the luxury jewellery house Cartier, the piece is constructed in 18ct-yellow gold, and features an elegant panther pendant laying resplendent in diamonds, tsavorite garnet and black lacquered spots.
Swift has been pictured wearing this luxury piece — with a value of £10,500 —before, accessorising with the feline-inspired necklace on a date night with Kelce in June of this year.
The multi-Grammy-award winner also wore a second Cartier piece for the podcast — a gold diamond-encrusted watch, which eagle-eyed fans have speculated to be the Santos Demoiselle – a timepiece the artist has worn on multiple prior occasions. Watches have become a significant motif in Swift's style in recent years; her eye-catching 2024 Grammy's outfit featured a black gemstone watch choker, and was notably the same night she announced her album The Tortured Poets Department. Swift also wore her Santos Demoiselle in an Instagram post in May, when she shared news of the acquisition of her masters. There's no doubt that this piece holds a significance for the singer, and we know by now that Ms Swift does nothing by accident.
While this specific design, with its diamond inlay, has been discontinued by the luxury jeweller, it's resale price sits between £10-£15,000, making these two pieces alone worth in the region of £25,000. The life of a showgirl indeed.
Fans have surmised that the artist has also been building up her own fine jewellery and watch collection over the past few years, including a Rolex gold and diamond cocktail watch. What could this signal for the upcoming album? We'll have to wait and see...
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