Birth of the Cartier
Alfred’s sons began planning from a young age to take over the Cartier brand, knowing that they would one day take over the family business started by their grandfather. The brothers began their journey by sharing a map. Louis took responsibility for Paris and the rest of Europe. Pierre undertook expansion into the United States and Jacques took over England and the colonies. Each of the three brothers would go on to make groundbreaking contributions that helped propel the Cartier brand forward. Louis played a major role in turning Cartier into a legend in central Paris. A man of refined artistic taste and business savvy, Louis Cartier established the Cartier name among the most prestigious jewelry houses in the world. A creative genius, Louis was the first to use platinum for jewelry, a rare metal that allowed for a fastening method described as ‘invisible’ and lighter than gold. Pierre was a born networker with the ability to understand the desires of the elite. After marrying a wealthy American socialite, Pierre focused on bringing Cartier to New York. Two exclusive jewels, the famous Hope diamond and a rare double strand pearl necklace, would ensure Cartier’s pioneering status in New York. Pierre purchased the famous Hope diamond and soon made an offer to wealthy socialites. The offer led to a bargain that became the talk of the tabloid press. Years later, Pierre used the stunning, million-dollar pearl necklace to acquire a prime piece of real estate on Fifth Avenue that would become the Cartier mansion. Jacques Cartier was the youngest brother who was initially the least interested in jewelry. Jacques’ place on the global map was England and the colonies. He therefore traveled frequently to India and the Persian Gulf. He made connections with jewelry-loving maharajahs and devoted himself to jewelry. His travels helped shape Cartier’s distinctive, Eastern-influenced aesthetic.

Jewels Become Icons
It was inevitable that Alfred Cartier’s three sons’ years of world-class work and passion for jewelry would result in iconic products that are legendary and whose influence endures to this day. Under the leadership of Louis, Pierre and Jacques Cartier, the world’s most precious stones, diamonds, emeralds, gold and platinum have found their place in the treasuries of royal families, in the wardrobes of world-class music, cinema and theater artists and the most famous names of all time, sometimes on a watch, sometimes on necklaces, rings, bracelets and brooches. Louis Cartier’s selection of Jeanne Toussaint, who started working in the brand’s jewelry design department in 1918 and whose unique style and captivating personality attracted attention, as Artistic Director of High Jewellery in 1933 led to the development of the legendary panther design that has become synonymous with Cartier. Known as La Panther, designer Jean Toussaint created the first of the iconic panther designs for Cartier, which have endured to this day. The Patalia necklace, created in 1925 for the Maharaja of Patalia of the Indian Royal Family, made the history of meticulous and fine jewelry craftsmanship with thousands of dazzling gemstones, including the seventh largest diamond in the world. One of Cartier’s most iconic pieces preserved in the treasury of the British Royal family is the Cartier Halo Tiara Tiara, designed in 1936. Worn countless times by princesses, the Cartier Halo Tiara Tiara was last worn by Kate Middleton at her wedding to Prince William of Wales in 2011. One of Cartier’s iconic pieces that continues to influence today’s jewelry trends is the Love bracelet, designed in 1969 by jeweler Aldo Cipullo with a safety screw and presented with Cartier’s signature mini-screwdriver. The Trinity de Cartier ring depicting eternity, the Juste un Clou bracelet, a marvelous 1970s interpretation of the panther, the Maria Felix Crocodile necklace, first designed in 1975, the iconic Tutti Frutti necklace inspired by the colored stones native to India, the Reine Makeda necklace, which became an enormous icon with diamonds and rubies and was worn by Jane Fonda on the red carpet, and much more have transformed Cartier into one of the timeless brands that define luxury.

Ongoing Success…
Following the deaths of Louis and Jacques Cartier in 1942, Pierre became the sole president of the company. The company continued to influence the fashion world with the Baignoires in the 1950s and the Crash watch in the mid-1960s. When Pierre Cartier died in 1964, the company went into a mild financial decline, though not a very serious one. At the end of the 1960s, the Cartier empire was dissolved and the company was bought by several investors. With the start of production under the Must sub-brand, Cartier began to gradually expand its product range. Thus, starting in 1974, Cartier began producing leather accessories in the corporate shade of burgundy, which was declared the official color of the Must sub-brand. A year later, the first desk clock appeared in the range. The official opening of the interior decoration department at Cartier also dates back to this time. Cartier also began to rethink existing models within the framework of the Must strategy. The first redesign was the famous Tank watch model, which made its debut in 1976 in a silver case. Then, the famous Santos watch, named after a friend of Louis Cartier’s who popularized the brand’s watches, was also revamped.

In the early 1980s, Cartier expanded its Must line to include Cartier-branded perfumes. At the same time, the company took more decisive action to protect the brand against imitations. Sold in both Cartier stores and third-party outlets, the Must line of wholesale products increasingly accounted for more than 60 percent of the company’s sales, which reached US$1 billion in the 1980s. Allain Dominique Perrin, the company’s CEO, continued the expansion drive that began in the 1980s but accelerated in the 1990s. Cartier began to increase its retail locations. By the late 1990s, it had built a worldwide chain with around 175 stores. Despite the crushing economic climate that dominated much of the 1990s, including the protracted US and European crises in the first part of the decade and the collapse of Asian markets in the second half of the decade, Cartier maintained steady growth. In 2017, the brand celebrated its 170th anniversary. Cartier is today a wholly owned subsidiary of the Swiss Richemont Group, still headquartered in Paris, France. In 2012, Cartier passed through Richemont into the ownership of the South African Rupert family and Elle Pagels, granddaughter of Pierre Cartier.

Cartier Eyewear
Cartier’s first optical jewelry was made in 1897, fifty years after the company was founded. Cartier’s most brilliant optical creations include a gold opera lorgnette with diamonds and rubies made for Prince Lobanov in 1902, a gold opera lorgnette with a diamond monogram made for Grand Duke Vladimir in 1912, platinum spectacles with diamonds made for Prince Yusupov in 1913, and yellow gold opera lorgnette with enameled patterns in the shape of tiger skin made for the Duchess of Windsor in 1954. The explosion of Cartier’s optical accessories took place in 1983 with the creation of the first eyewear design. Cartier drew inspiration from both of its signature designs, the Tank and Santos, for its first collection of eyewear. Like the watch designs that inspired them, the Tank and Santos eyewear was exclusively for men. Cartier’s all-female eyewear collection was launched in 1986.  During this time, the iconic men’s Tank and Santos were joined by a third, Laque.

The brand’s first sunglasses were true jewels. This tradition continued in 1987, when Cartier presented the first frames for reading glasses. Then, it was the turn of two more new sunglass designs. Tank Louis Cartier for men and Sapphire inlaid with sapphires for women. Cartier’s corporate symbol, the panther, also found its place on these glasses. In 1989, the Lunette Panthere sunglasses were launched. In the 1990s, Cartier’s eyewear was evolving rapidly, with the presentation of the exceptional Boix Precieux collection in 1991. In 1993 Cartier presented two composite frame designs, Vertigo and later Conquete. In the fall of the same year, two more bezel-less bezel models were presented. A year later, in 1994, Cartier added new semi-rimless eyewear designs to its collections. In March 2017, Richemont Group entered into a strategic partnership with Kering Group. This was Kering Eyewear’s first licensing agreement with a brand outside the group. According to this license agreement, the French Kering Group announced that its Kering Eyewear division would undertake the development, production and worldwide distribution of Cartier eyewear. Kering Eyewear launched its first collection of Cartier eyewear for the Spring/Summer 2018 season and launched the collection at the Silmo Paris Optical Fair.

September 2023