‘Never Copy, Only Create’
“Cartier” charts the Maison’s history from the turn of the 20th century to the present day, but the firm’s origins extend to 1847, when it was founded by Louis-François Cartier. Successful with French high society, Napoleon III’s cousin Princess Mathilde was a prominent patroness, Louis-François’s son Alfred took control in 1874. However, it was his sons, Louis, Pierre, and Jacques who turned Cartier into a global empire in the early 1900s, purveyors to potentates, dollar princesses, and titans of industry.Louis ran the Paris office, Pierre the New York one, and Jacques managed London and all the British territories, most importantly India. Included in the exhibition is an amethyst, sapphire, diamond, and platinum brooch made by Cartier London for Jacques’ wife, Nelly.
The motto of the Cartier brothers was “Never copy, only create.” Inspiration was international, from patterned Persian rugs to 18th-century French decorative arts and architecture. The historic French designs were a basis for the Belle Epoque Garland Style, popular in early 20th-century jewelry and perfected by Cartier.
Highly romantic and lyrical, it frequently used motifs like florals, bows, tassels, and swags, often in an all-white palette. The novel use of platinum as a metal setting, in which Louis Cartier was an innovator, gave the impression of floating diamonds. Before this, white stones were set with silver-topped gold, which had practical and visual disadvantages to platinum.
Bejeweled Tiaras
One of the exhibition’s most glamorous attractions will be the section devoted to tiaras. These head ornaments are an ultimate symbol of social status, elegance, and power. Cartier’s tiaras are beauty and imagination personified. Several Belle Epoque examples were made for American heiresses who married into British aristocracy.
The 1902 tiara commissioned for the New York-born Adele, Countess of Essex presents remarkable open scrollwork and over 1,040 diamonds that her husband allegedly supplied to Cartier. She wore it to Edward VII’s Coronation. Just over 50 years later, Clementine Churchill, wife of Prime Minister Winston Churchill, wore it to Elizabeth II’s coronation.
Art deco tiaras showcase new cuts of stones and often highly geometric forms. A bold, colorful exhibit example from late in the period is the aquamarine, diamond, and platinum tiara. Semi-precious stones like aquamarines were less expensive than diamonds, emeralds, sapphires, and rubies; they became popular during the Great Depression when purse strings tightened, even among the wealthy.
In 1937, 27 aquamarine tiaras, including this one, were ordered from Cartier. King George VI’s coronation was that year, and this model was made to be worn for the event. Intriguingly, like many Cartier creations, this tiara is transformable: The central component can be detached and worn as a brooch.
A rare tiara on display is in a bandeau form, of low profile usually worn on the forehead that suited women’s fashionably bobbed hair of the 1920s. This 1928 bandeau, which converts to two bracelets, is made of carved emeralds, rubies, sapphires, diamonds, and platinum. It was owned by Lady Edwina Mountbatten, the last Vicereine of India, and is in the Tutti Frutti style.
The Decorated Maharajah
The Cartiers were fascinated by the East and merged their motifs frequently with Western designs. Jacques Cartier purchased a large number of carved stones on a 1911 trip to India for the Delhi Dunbar, a celebration of the coronation of King George V, Emperor of India. The trip was significant as Jacques made connections with Indian Maharajahs, many of whom became important clients.
Traditionally, Maharajahs set their fabulous gemstones in gold, but they were soon eager to commission new jewelry and have stones reset by Cartier in platinum. One of the most magnificent objects Cartier ever created is known as the Patiala Necklace.
‘Scarab Brooch’
Egyptomania, a 19th-century fascination for all things Egypt, became popular in response to events such as Napoleon’s Egyptian campaign, archaeological expeditions, and the building of the Suez Canal. It was revived in the 1920s with the discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamun.Cartier incorporated Egyptian themes into different jewelry forms, including a 1925 “Scarab Brooch,” featured in the exhibit. This piece is resplendent with turquoise blue Egyptian faience (a ceramic material prized by the ancient Egyptians) and calibré-cut gems for the wings. Scarab beetles were symbolic of life, death, rebirth, and immortality. This brooch could also be worn as a belt buckle.
Cartier Lore
Cartier’s emblematic symbol is the panther. For over a century, the big cat has metamorphosed in an array of necklaces, bracelets, earrings, rings, brooches, watches, cigarette and vanity cases, and handbags. The origin of this panther motif is associated with Cartier’s legendary creative director Jeanne Toussaint.Once a paramour of Louis Cartier, Toussaint was nicknamed “La Panthère.” While she may have been the inspiration for Cartier’s panther, she did not create the design. Some of the designers she oversaw were known to sketch live animals at zoos. Cartier’s illustrious panther commissions were made for famous women like the Duchess of Windsor, who owned a Cartier menagerie that included a famous flamingo brooch.
Timeless Timepieces
Cartier is also famous for their watches and clocks. The most celebrated of the latter are dubbed “pendules mystérieuses” or “Mystery Clocks.” Louis Cartier was especially interested in timepieces and hired a talented young clockmaker, Maurice Couët, to innovate for the company. Couët invented a sensational desk clock that leaves viewers baffled as to how the hands are driven. They appear to float in the middle of a rock crystal case without being connected to a mechanism or movement.
The first type of this clock, introduced in 1912, was known as ‘Model A.” A 1914 example is included in the show. The company closely guarded the secret to this mysterious illusion, but it is now publicly known: The hands are set into transparent discs whose edges are connected to gears hidden in the clock’s supports. These gears, in turn, connect the hand and clock movement, which is located usually in the clock’s base.
It is no mystery as to why the public goes crazy for all things Cartier. The wondrous pieces profiled here are just a sample of the treasures going on display at the V&A. Further masterpieces include Barbara Hutton’s Burmese jade necklace, the finest example of its kind, Mexican film star Maria Felix’s astonishing articulated snake necklace, and the Allnatt brooch with its 101-carat vivid yellow diamond. The exhibit is sure to make the case, in as brilliant form as Cartier’s iconic red box, that some of the 20th and 21st centuries’ greatest artworks are signed “Cartier.”
