The articulated tiger clip brooch, Cartier Paris, was sold to Barbara Hutton in 1957. Comprising gold, single and brilliant-cut diamonds ranging from fancy intense yellow to near colorless marquise-shaped, it also has emerald eyes and fancy-shaped onyx making up the stripes. Nick Welsh ©Cartier.
:Manhattan's Fifth Avenue has long been the avenue of elegance, but Cartier bumped up the glamour and glitz tenfold for its exhibition "Cartier's 100th Anniversary in America." In 1909, Pierre Cartier opened a flagship boutique in New York City catering to those clients the company had been serving from its Paris locale — the Vanderbilts, the Forbeses and Rockefellers. Not to mention those Americans with the means and fashion sense enough to partake of the glittering array of precious stones showcased in stunning brooches, necklaces, bracelets, watches and other fine jewelry.
This limited exhibition celebrates not only the craftsmanship and design of the Cartier brand, but also Cartier's relationship with America. According to Frederic du Narp, president and chief executive officer of Cartier North America, "This is why the celebration is very important to Cartier, to showcase to the world, and especially the 300 million Americans, the remarkable heritage we have here. Cartier has been the bridge of culture between France and America."
The exhibition ran in New York from May 1 to May 21 in Cartier's landmark Fifth Avenue townhouse — one of the last private mansions to be built in this part of the city. Having opened his initial boutique in 1909, Pierre Cartier purchased the company's current building in 1917 from banker Morton F. Plant for $100 and a pearl necklace worth $1 million. A portrait of Maisie Plant wearing the double strand necklace of natural pearls is included in the exhibition. The exhibition then moved to Cartier's Beverly Hills store on Rodeo Drive.
First sold in the Seventeenth Century, the violet-colored Hope diamond was roughly cut and weighed more than 112 carats. In 1910, Evalyn Walsh McLean of Washington D.C., viewed it while in Paris at Cartier. Deciding that she did not like the setting, Pierre Cartier had the diamond reset and took it to the United States where he left it with McLean for a weekend. The sale was completed in 1911 with the diamond mounted as a headpiece amid three tiers of large white diamonds. It later became the pendant on a diamond necklace. Harry Winston Inc of New York City purchased McLean's entire jewelry collection, including the Hope diamond, from her estate in 1949. For the next ten years, the Hope diamond was shown at many exhibits and charitable events by Harry Winston, until 1958, when it was donated to the Smithsonian Institution. It has left the Smithsonian only a handful of times since it was donated. Courtesy of the Smithsonian Institution.
There are 119 pieces in the exhibition, but du Narp notes that quality not quantity is at the core of this display, as there are 1,200 pieces in the company's private collection. "It's a meaningful exhibition, which tells exactly what Cartier has been about in North America," he said. "We have a room dedicated to Hollywood; we have a room dedicated to tycoons; to the pioneers, and this exhibition covers it all. We have the clock that Pierre Cartier offered to Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1943 for the amazing work he was doing around the world to promote peace. This is a true symbol of the celebration of this relationship between France and North America."
Cartier created its own private collection 40 years ago and is the first brand to be asked by museums to showcase its pieces. The company is currently showcasing 300 items in the National Museum of Tokyo, with designer Yoshioka Tokujin dramatizing the stories of the various articles of jewelry. Cartier's pieces have also been exhibited at the Kremlin Museum in Moscow, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, among others.
The jewel in the crown on display is the Peregrina necklace. According to du Narp, "You have these pearls from the Sixteenth Century, which went through noble families of Spain, England and France and which Richard Burton bought in 1969 for Elizabeth Taylor. He came to Cartier to create a necklace inspired from one worn in a painting of Queen Mary of England. It is an amazing integration into a contemporary piece, a major accomplishment, and the beauty of this necklace is absolutely incredible."
