Cartier ( , ) is a French luxury goods conglomerate that designs, manufactures, distributes and sells jewelry, watches, leather goods, sunglasses and eyeglasses. Founded in 1847 by Louis-François Cartier (1819–1904) in Paris, France, the company remained under family control until 1964. The company is headquartered in Paris and is currently a subsidiary of the Swiss Richemont Group, a global luxury giant. Cartier operates more than 200 stores in 125 countries, with three Temples (Historical Maisons) in Paris, London and New York City.
Cartier is regarded as one of the most prestigious manufacturers of luxury goods. Forbes ranked Cartier on its Most Valuable Brands list as 56th in 2020, with a brand value of $12.2 billion and revenue of $6.2 billion.
Cartier has a long history of sales to royalty. King Edward VII referred to Cartier as "the jeweller of kings and the king of jewellers". For his coronation in 1902, Edward VII ordered 27 tiaras and issued a royal warrant to Cartier in 1904. Similar warrants soon followed from the courts of Spain, Portugal, Serbia, Russia and the French House of Orléans. The largest-ever single order to date was made in 1925 by the Maharaja of Patiala, Bhupinder Singh, for the Patiala Necklace and other jewellery worth .From Bahadur Shah Zafar to the Nizam of Hyderabad, a jewellery brand for the royals , The Print, November 5, 2022. Chulalongkorn graciously commanded Prince Sommot Amonphan, his Private Secretary, to issue a royal warrant appointing Cartier as an official purveyor of jewelry to the King of Siam. This followed the Chulalongkorn’s private visit to the Cartier boutique in Paris during his royal visit of Europe in 1907. Subsequently, Cartier’s jewelry was exhibited at the Grand Palace during the 40th anniversary celebrations of the Chulalongkorn’s reign in 1908.
History Early history Louis-François Cartier founded the firm in Paris in 1847 when he took over the workshop of his master, Adolphe Picard. In 1874, Louis-François' son Alfred Cartier took over the company, but it was Alfred's sons, Louis, Pierre and Jacques, who established the brand name worldwide.
Louis ran the Paris branch, moving to the Rue de la Paix in 1899. He was responsible for some of the company's most celebrated designs, such as the mystery clocks (a type of clock with a transparent dial and so named because its mechanism is hidden), fashionable wristwatches and exotic orientalist Art Deco designs, including the colorful "Tutti Frutti" jewels. During that time, Louis Cartier also pioneered the use of platinum in jewelry, a breakthrough innovation that enabled more intricate and delicate settings. The strength of platinum allowed for nearly invisible settings, putting the spotlight on diamonds and gemstones, and giving Cartier's creations a distinct elegance that redefined modern jewellery design.
In 1904, Brazilian pioneer aviator, Alberto Santos-Dumont complained to his friend Louis Cartier of the unreliability and impracticality of using pocket watches while flying. Cartier designed a flat wristwatch with a distinctive square bezel that was favored by Santos-Dumont and many other customers. This was the first and only time the brand would name a watch after its original wearer. The "Santos" watch was Cartier's first men's wristwatch. In 1907, Cartier signed a contract with Edmond Jaeger, who agreed to exclusively supply the movements for Cartier watches. Among the Cartier team was Charles Jacqueau, who joined Louis Cartier in 1909 for the rest of his life, and Jeanne Toussaint, who was Director of Fine Jewellery from 1933.
Pierre Cartier established a New York City branch in 1909, moving in 1917 to 653 Fifth Avenue, the Neo-Renaissance mansion of Morton Freeman Plant (son of railroad tycoon Henry B. Plant), designed by architect C.P.H. Gilbert. Cartier purchased it from the Plants in exchange for $100 in cash and a double-stranded natural pearl necklace valued at the time at $1 million. By this time, Cartier had branches in London, New York and Saint Petersburg and was quickly becoming one of the most successful watch companies.
Designed by Louis Cartier, the Tank watch was introduced in 1919 and was inspired by the newly introduced tanks on the Western Front in World War I. In the early 1920s, Cartier formed a joint-stock company with Edward Jaeger (of Jaeger-LeCoultre) to produce movements solely for Cartier. Cartier continued to use movements from other makers: Vacheron Constantin, Audemars Piguet, Movado and LeCoultre. It was also during this period that Cartier began adding its own reference numbers its watches by stamping a four-digit code on the underside of a lug. Jacques took charge of the London operations and eventually moved to the current address at New Bond Street.
Re-organization After the death of Pierre in 1964, Jean-Jacques Cartier (Jacques's son), Claude Cartier (Louis's son), and Marion Cartier Claudel (Pierre's daughter)—who respectively headed the Cartier affiliates in London, New York, and Paris—sold the businesses.
In 1972, Robert Hocq, assisted by a group of investors led by Joseph Kanoui, bought Cartier Paris. In 1974 and 1976, respectively, the group repurchased Cartier London and Cartier New York, thus reconnecting Cartier worldwide. The new president of Cartier, Robert Hocq, coined the phrase "Les Must de Cartier" (a staff member is said to have said "Cartier, It's a must!" meaning something one simply must have) with Alain Dominique Perrin, who was a General Director of the company. As a result, in 1976, "Les Must de Cartier" became a diffusion line of Cartier, with Alain D. Perrin being its CEO.
In 1979, the Cartier interests were combined, with Cartier Monde uniting and controlling Cartier Paris, London, and New York. Joseph Kanoui became vice president of Cartier Monde. In December 1979, following the accidental death of president Robert Hocq, Nathalie Hocq (daughter of Hocq) became president.
Expansion into new markets In the 1980s, Cartier expanded its product range with eyewear. The brand introduced its first eyewear collections using materials such as gold, platinum and buffalo horn.
Recent development
In 1981, Alain Dominique Perrin was appointed Chairman of Cartier SAA and Cartier International. The next year, Micheline Kanoui, wife of Joseph Kanoui, became head of jewellery design and launched her first collection "Nouvelle Joaillerie." In 1984, Perrin founded the Fondation Cartier pour l'Art Contemporain to bring Cartier into the twenty-first century, by forming an association with living artists. In 1986, the French Ministry for Culture appointed Perrin head of the "Mission sur le mécénat d'entreprise" (a commission to study business patronage of the arts). Two years later, Cartier gained a majority holding in Piaget and Baume & Mercier. From 1989 to 1990, the Musée du Petit Palais staged an exhibition of the Cartier collection, "L'Art de Cartier."
Perrin founded an international committee in 1991, Comité International de la Haute Horlogerie, to organize its first salon, held on 15 April 1991; this has become an annual meeting place in Geneva for professionals in this field. The next year, the second exhibition of "L'Art de Cartier" was held at the Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg. In 1993, the "Vendôme Luxury Group" was formed as an umbrella company to combine Cartier, Dunhill, Montblanc, Piaget, Baume & Mercier, Karl Lagerfeld, Chloé, Sulka, Hackett, and Seeger.
In 1994, the Cartier Foundation moved to the Rive Gauche and opened headquarters in a building designed for it by Jean Nouvel. The next year, a major exhibition of the Cartier Antique Collection was held in Asia. In 1996, the Lausanne Hermitage Foundation in Switzerland exhibited "Splendours of the Jewellery", presenting a hundred and fifty years of products by Cartier.
As of 2012, Cartier was owned, through Richemont, by the South African Rupert family, and Elle Pagels, a 24-year-old granddaughter of Pierre Cartier.
Managing directors
Laurent E. Feniou – (March 25, 2013 – present). Rupert J. Brooks – (December 16, 2015 – present). Francois M. J. R. Le Troquer – (September 1, 2010 – March 28, 2013). Bernard M. Fornas – (January 21, 2003 – December 16, 2015). Guy J. Leymarie – (September 2, 2002 – October 28, 2002). Grieg O. Catto – (April 2 – present). Denys E. Pasche – (April 2, 2002 – July 17, 2002). David W. Merriman – (April 2, 2002 – July 17, 2002). Richard P. Lepeu – (November 1, 2000 – April 1, 2002). Sophie Cagnard – (November 1, 2000 – April 1, 2002). Gerard S. Djaoui – (June 12, 1997 – April 1, 2002). Francois Meffre – (June 11, 1993 – September 28, 2000). Richard N. Thornby – (June 11, 1993 – October 7, 1996). Luigi Blank – (June 11, 1993 – April 1, 2002). Joseph Allgood – (Managing Director 1973 – 1984, UK Vice-Chairman 1984 -2003). Arnaud M. Bamberger – (June 4, 1992 – December 16, 2015). Mario Soares – (June 22, 1991 – March 5, 2002). Joseph Kanoui – (June 22, 1991 – January 31, 2000). William A. Craddock – Board of Directors - (June 22, 1991 – October 31, 1997). Christopher H. B. Honeyborne – Board of Directors - (June 22, 1991 – October 31, 1997). Pierre Haquet – (June 22, 1991 – April 8, 1993). Phillipe Leopold-Metzger – (June 22, 1991 – June 4, 1992).
Jewelry and watch manufacturing
Notable products 1911 – Launch of Santos de Cartier wristwatch. 1918 – Creation of batons for Field-Marshals Foch and Pétain. 1919 – Launch of the Tank watch. 1921 – Creation of the Tank cintrée watch. 1922 – Creation of the Tank Louis Cartier and Tank Chinoise watches. 1923 – Creation of the first portico mystery clock, crowned with a statuette called Billiken. 1926 – Creation of the Baguette watch. Cartier jewellery in its red box appeared on the Broadway stage in Anita Loos' play Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. 1928 – Creation of the Tortue single push-piece chronograph watch. 1929 – Creation of the Tank à guichets watch. 1931 – Creation of the mystery pocket watch. 1932 – Creation of the Tank basculante watch. 1933 – Cartier filed a patent for the "invisible mount", a stone-setting technique in which the metal of the mount disappears to show only the stones. This method, known as the Mystery Setting, became a signature element of Cartier's high jewelry. 1936 – Creation of the Tank asymétrique watch. 1942 – Creation of the "Caged Bird" brooch as a symbol of the Occupation. 1944 – Cartier created the "Freed Bird" to celebrate the Liberation of France. 1950 – Creation of a watch in the form of a ship's wheel. 1967 – Creation of new watches in London including the Crash. 1968 – Creation of the Maxi Oval watch. 1969 – Creation of the Love bracelet. 1969 – First inclusion of a Cartier Chronometer in a Luxury Car 1971 – Creation of the Juste un Clou bracelet at Cartier New York. 1973 – Creation of Les Must de Cartier by Robert Hocq with Alain-Dominique Perrin. 1974 – Launch of the first leather collection in burgundy. 1976 – First collection of Les Must de Cartier vermeil watches. Creation of the first oval pen. 1978 – Creation of the Santos de Cartier watch with a gold and steel bracelet. Creation of the first Cartier scarf collection. 1980 – Launch of Cartier eyewear collection 1981 – Launch of the Must de Cartier and Santos de Cartier perfumes. 1982 – Launch of the first New Jewellery collection on the theme of gold and stones. 1983 – Creation of the Collection Ancienne Cartier (later the Cartier Collection) to record and illustrate how the jeweller's art and its history have evolved. Creation of the Panthère de Cartier watch. 1984 – Launch of the second New Jewellery collection on the theme of gold and pearls. Creation of the Fondation Cartier pour l'Art Contemporain in Jouy-en-Josas. 1985 – Launch of the Pasha de Cartier watch. 1986 – Launch of the third New Jewellery collection on the theme of the panther.