A few years ago, I worked with Cartier and the Saatchi Gallery on an exhibition celebrating the Maison’s timeless jewellery and watches. Although I was very familiar with the brand, it was my first understanding of the emotional significance that these pieces had for those who bought them.
Having spent the last 15 years of my career working for luxury magazines, I knew that the brand had been worn by a dizzying mix of names – from Rihanna to the Queen – but part of the showcase I worked on invited the public to be photographed wearing their Cartier classics, and to share the story behind them.
One woman cried as she told me that her Tank watch was a gift given to her by her husband when she was undergoing chemotherapy treatment. She had been given not long to live, and the watch was a symbol that time is what you make of it. Another woman had bought herself a Just Un Clou ring as a gift to herself after being given a major promotion; it represented how far she’d come. A couple showed me their Love rings, which they wore as wedding bands, engraved with the date they got married. One very lucky teenager proudly presented the Love bangle that had been handed down to her from her mother on her 18th birthday.
Cartier means something to those that wear it. Our favourite jewellery is always a form of personal storytelling; it speaks of major life events and often has more sentimental value than almost anything else we wear. It is a show of status, but it is also a showing of self – and for luxury shoppers, Cartier is often still the most elegant, timeless way of doing so. As the brand prepares to open a blockbuster exhibition at the V&A, what is it about the French jeweller that gets it consistently right? How did it become one of the most powerful luxury destinations in the world?
V&A Cartier Diamants Mysterieux by Horst P. Horst Print, £100
Nearly 180 years after the house was founded by Louis-Francois Cartier, the most affluent of shoppers still turn to Cartier. Knightsbridge Circle, the world’s most exclusive concierge club, reports that the Maison is the most coveted brand among its members, nearly all of whom wear or buy the brand regularly because of its classic appeal. Last year, one of the club’s personal managers flew to Bangkok at very short notice in order to track down a rare Cartier necklace for a client. In the hit HBO show Succession, about the tense dynamics of the super rich Roy family, daughter Shiv wears a mix of Panthère and Pasha watches. Unlike some of its dusty fine jewellery peers, the brand has a modern appeal too, recently worn by Timothee Chalamet, Zendaya and Dua Lipa. When it comes to glamour, quality and timelessness, Cartier is still hard to beat. “Some of the most beautiful and famous jewels in the world were made by the Maison,” says Helen Molesworth, lead curator of the V&A’s exhibition, which opens this month. “What makes it unique is its ability to tap into the zeitgeist of an age and create something so of the time, yet that never goes out of fashion.”
There are a few commonalities in Cartier designs, from historic motifs to the way in which it uses the finest gems set by the hands of master jewellers. Crucially, it’s a brand that immortalises history-shaping moments through jewellery. Cartier has always been there with era-defining pieces that reflect the world we live in, such as Fabergé-style enamels it launched when Russophilia dominated 20th-century Europe or the iconic Tank watch that was influenced by First World War tanks. It gave punk a fine jewellery finish with the launch of the nail-shaped Juste un Clou. “There are multiple elements one can recognise in Cartier creations, like the paisley-like boteh or almond-shaped mandorla,” says Molesworth, “but the difference is that these are constantly explored, reinvented and added to, creating an endless vocabulary in the Cartier lexicon.”
The Maison is also good at foretelling what shoppers will love before they know it themselves. Take the forward-thinking Manchester Tiara, a V&A jewel made in 1903 in the new Garland Style, rather than the older gold and silver setting. Molesworth also cites the Tutti Frutti jewels that were inspired by trips to India made by Jacques Cartier, one of the three enterprising sons of Louis-Francois. “They really encompass the modernity and brilliance of new Cartier ideas,” she says. “They incorporated the carved green emeralds and red rubies of Indian tradition but added in shocking and unusual blue sapphires, making it entirely new in clashing bright colours that the Europeans and Americans loved. It really speaks of the shocking colours and combinations of the 1920s, modernity, new ideas – it was an embracing of the world.”
Rihanna wearing Cartier on the cover of W magazine’s 2016 September issue photographed by Steven Klein
Cartier has never rested on its laurels. It may have been given a royal warrant as early as 1904, but it has continued to evolve. Heritage, craftsmanship and glamour is combined with innovation – and an eye for reinvention – most recently its iconic Tank watch, which has been given a modern facelift in rare metals. A minimalist brushed dial option without numerals will be high on the wish lists of discerning shoppers.
“We are not obsessed with innovation for the sake of innovation,” Arnaud Carrez, Cartier’s senior vice president and chief marketing officer, told GQ. “Innovation should be at the service of design, and our Tank novelties illustrate that.”
The Maison also knows which popular culture icons to associate itself with. In 2016, Rihanna appeared on the cover of W, wearing a Cartier tiara and collar from 1902 made up of 2,000 brilliant diamonds. The tiara was initially designed and commissioned for the Countess of Essex, and in 1953, Clementine Churchill, the wife of former Prime Minister Winston Churchill, wore it to the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. “It really sums up the versatility of timeless jewels that can be worn and reinvented over again,” says Molesworth. Cartier’s current ambassadors include Paul Mescal, Lou Doillon and Rami Malek.
Cartier Scroll diamond tiara commissioned for the Countess of Essex in 1902. Nils Herrmann, Collection Cartier © Cartier / Panther bangle, Cartier Paris, 1978. Cartier Collection. Photography: Marian Gérard for Cartier Collection
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Every famous brand needs an emblem, and for Cartier it takes the form of panther. First appearing on a Cartier exhibition invite in 1914, the panther became the thread that ties the brand’s story. It has appeared on watches, brooches, vanity cases and bracelets, and has stalked the jewellery of Keith Richards, Wallis Simpson and Madonna. “In many ways, the panther has become the symbol of powerful femininity, and even female emancipation,” says Molesworth. “The animal is elegance and beauty personified, yet with an innate and subtle strength that everyone knows lies beneath its soft skin. It’s powerful, even dangerous, but utterly beguiling.” The non-linear shape of the panther is also prime for jewellery design. “It naturally curves so beautifully and easily around a wrist or a neck,” she adds.
The original Cartier invitation by Georges Barbier first featuring the brand’s panther emblem. Print available from the the V&A gift shop, £35
The V&A members’ preview of the Cartier exhibition has sold out already, suggesting that it will be another hit for the museum when it opens on 12 April. The landmark showcase has been a decade in the making, and will display more than 350 sparkling pieces, including Grace Kelly’s engagement ring and the Queen’s late coronation diamond brooch. A dedicated book will be available as a very chic souvenir. “It’s the biggest retrospective in London in 30 years, all culminating in a spectacular room full of the finest tiaras,” says Molesworth. “How could anyone miss that?”
Lead image courtesy of Cartier
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