Women Are at the Center of Cartier’s Legacy

What inspired you to trace the history of your family and share this story with the world? 
 
About 15 years ago, I was rooting around for a celebratory bottle of champagne in my grandfather’s cellar on his 90th birthday, when I stumbled across an old leather trunk filled with hundreds of long-lost family letters. They told the story of the Cartiers over four generations, and how they grew their first small Parisian shop into one of the world’s leading jewelry brands.

The more I read, the more I realized the trunk couldn’t lie hidden for another 40 years. With my grandfather’s help, I decided to write about it: I left my job in the city and embarked on a 10-year research journey that took me all over the world (often with young kids in tow), following the footsteps of my ancestors through Indian palaces, Sri Lankan sapphire mines, Parisian showrooms, and New York jewelry workshops.  
 
How did strong women impact the legacy of Cartier? 
 
Even though my book “The Cartiers” is predominantly the story of the three Cartier brothers, they didn't do it alone. Without the Cartier women, you probably wouldn't have heard of Cartier today. The wives of the three brothers didn’t just help fund the fledgling family firm at the turn of the 20th century, they brought crucial connections too. And female employees — such as the early pearl stringers, Cartier’s first female designer, the ultra-cool Miss Winter, or the creative director of Cartier Paris, Jeanne Toussaint — all brought something to the business Louis Cartier admitted he would never have but needed: a woman’s eye. 

After all, Cartier was designing jewelry predominantly for women. Its clients included everyone from Grand Duchess Vladimir of Russia and the Maharani of Baroda to Grace Kelly, Elizabeth Taylor, and Queen Elizabeth II.  
 
What’s a pivotal moment that shaped the trajectory of Cartier? 
 
During the Great Depression, when many luxury firms were unable to stay afloat, the three Cartier brothers worked in different ways to make sure Cartier kept attracting clients. In New York, Pierre Cartier started a $5 and $10 department (a revolutionary idea for a high-end jewelry store); Louis Cartier insisted his Parisian team come up with useful items in the Cartier style, such as watches, gold pencils, and pocket-knives; and my great-grandfather Jacques Cartier traveled frequently to India from London, securing enormous commissions from the maharajas (diversification through globalization, before the age of globalization).