Cartier is one of the most familiar names in jewellery and therefore one of the most misused since it tends to be applied with the same generosity as Chippendale in antique furniture. However, a number of original Cartier pieces are expected to be included in a Galway fashion show on Thursday, September 9th. These items of jewellery date from the high point of the Cartier business between the two World Wars, when the work produced by the firm was at its finest.
The original Cartier company was established in 1847 when Louis-Francois Cartier opened a shop on the Rue Montorgueil in Paris. Until the end of the century, this and successive Cartier premises tended to be primarily retailers and not manufacturers. It was only with the involvement of the founder's three grandsons - Louis, Pierre and Jacques - that Cartier began to produce its own work, following a move of the Paris operations to Rue de la Paix in the heart of the city's jewellery and fashion district.
In 1902, the company opened a branch in London, coinciding with the coronation of Edward VII, and in 1909 New York had its own Cartier outlet; each of these was managed by one of the three brothers. New York had its own workshops by 1917, with London following in 1922 and Paris in 1929. While the three branches remained part of the same firm and often collaborated, they also usually responded to local customer requirements which could differ from one country to the next. Clients in London, Paris or New York would request designs suiting the fashions of the moment, and these were then manufactured in the workshops attached to the shop.
The most important period of Cartier's history ended with the deaths of both Louis and Jacques in 1942, followed by the retirement of Pierre three years later. Although the company continued in existence, the branches were sold off and only reunited as Cartier Monde in 1979.
During the inter-war years, the list of Cartier clientele was particularly impressive, including such names as Mrs Cole Porter, the Hon Daisy Fellowes, Marjorie Merriweather Post, Barbara Hutton, Elsie de Wolfe and almost every member of the Vanderbilt family. Just as importantly, many Indian princes gave their family jewels to Cartier to be reset in more contemporary styles. When the Maharajah of Patiala gave the firm his crown jewels to remodel between 1925 and 1928, this was the biggest single commission received from one single client.
It was partly as a result of such commissions that many European and American customers, particularly during the 1920s and 1930s, developed a taste for jewellery in Persian and Indian styles. However, Cartier also produced pieces in a wide variety of other forms such as the Pharaonic work including a diamond halo sold in 1934 to the Aga Khan, scarab brooches very similar to those found by Howard Carter in Tutankhamun's tomb in 1922 and a famous Egyptian temple gate clock made in 1927. Cartier is also especially associated with the development of art deco in jewellery.
Since each of the three branches had its own workshop and each piece produced was entered into record books (those in Paris included a pen and ink sketch in the margin), tracing Cartier pieces is relatively easy compared to that from other manufacturers. The items included in the Galway fashion show come from Paris.
A fashion show in aid of Croi, the West of Ireland Cardiology Foundation, featuring antique jewellery and this season's clothes stocked by Les Jumelles of Galway, takes place in the Corrib Great Southern Hotel on Thursday, September 9th at 8 p.m. For further information, tel: 091-526000
