Hailed by King Edward VII as ‘The jeweller of kings, and the king of jewellers’, Cartier has remained the father figure of the European jewellery market since its founding in 1847. From musicians to art dealers, sporting legends to film directors, the humble watch has long been the gleaming symbol of gentlemanly elegance and personal style, and Cartier has stood firmly at the helm of this gleaming world for decades.
Founded in Paris, Cartier bears the name of its founding figure, Louis-Francois Cartier, who kept the brand entirely within the family until 1964, passed down through three generations of Cartier men and finally illuminating the watch market worldwide in the early 1900s. The first Cartier watches were created as a solution to the inconvenient pocket watch, inspired by the wishes of the Brazilian Aviation legend Alberto Santos-Dumont to read the time while in-flight. With this, the elegant line of watches so revered in the jewellery market was born. This first piece rests as the cornerstone of the Cartier watch premise, residing in robust materials, an elegant and simplistic watch face and the legendary Cartier stamp.
Louis-Francois built his company on the premise of quality over the changing faces of fashion, lending the brand an ageless appeal and a quality of eternal loyalty. And this seems to explain why Cartier has transcended the watch market for so many decades. Despite economic crises, wars and changing fashions, the market has seemingly remained wide open for Cartier, with the rich and famous seeking its decadence even in the face of adversity. Last month saw the opening of the Cartier retrospective show at the Grand Palias, Paris. The exhibition took a look at the dominance of the company on the jewellery world, and celebrated the wonders of some of their most decedent designs, including pieces given by Richard Burton to Elizabeth Taylor and many of the Royal collections.
Adorning the wrists of contemporary celebrities and still being passed through generations of families, Cartier has proved its immutable appeal and shows no signs of slowing down. The magic of the brand lies in its ageless appeal, with that French elegance first injected into the company at its birth remains at the forefront of each new design that hits the market. And it is this sophisticated timelessness that makes Cartier the king of the watch market, and the quintessential stamp of elegance.
By Meg Abbott
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