Mastery of Design: A Cartier Diamond and Coral Jabot Scarf Pin, 1920

The Victoria & Albert Museum

This long scarf pin by Cartier features three overlapping jeweled semicircles at its head. This pattern is echoed in miniature on the clip at its base. Made between 1920 and 1930, this style of brooch was very fashionable at the time. It is made up of two separate decorative ends which are joined by a pin.

When made, Cartier referred to these pins as “cliquet pins” because of the snap fastening which held the lower element in place over the sharp point of the pin. However, overall such pins are referred to as jabot pins (after a cravat or jabot) or sûreté pins.

A pin like this—in the 1920s would have been worn to secure a scarf or worn on the lapel. Sometimes, they were even worn at the front of a cloche hat. In all instances, only the two jeweled ends of the piece would be seen, with the pin concealed. This example of platinum set with fans of coral, onyx and brilliant-cut diamonds typifies both the look of the Art Deco and Cartier’s preferred style for these pins. 

Mastery of Design: A Cartier Bangle, 1937

Bangle
Cartier, 1937
This and all related images from
The British Museum

Cartier’s London branch created this sumptuous bangle in a wholly Indian style. The floral piece is a brilliant marriage of platinum, gold, diamonds, and rubies. The central motif looks back to Nineteenth-Century Indian Jaipur work with a very post-Deco sensibility.

Diamonds (baguettes and brilliants) and a double row of cabochon rubies glitter in an asymmetrical platinum setting. Meanwhile, the central floral theme is set in gold around an egg-shaped cabochon. The reverse is enameled with flowers in the Kundan style.

Saturday Sparkle: The New York Flower Basket Brooch, 1930

Brooch
Cartier, New York
1930
The Victoria & Albert Museum

By 1930, traditional themes in art had become stylized into geometric patterns of cool-tones and shine. The floral jewels of the Nineteenth Century gave way to icy sprays and baskets of diamonds, rock crystal and platinum. 

Take, for example, this floral basket brooch made by Cartier New York in 1930. With its Eastern and geometric influence, the blooms are stylized, and the base of the basket is emphasized by baguette-cut diamonds. Cartier has combined rock crystal with diamonds and platinum to create a study in shades of white which is brought to life from icy splendor by brilliant-cut diamonds.

Gifts of Grandeur: The Manchester Tiara, 1903

The Manchester Tiara
Cartier, 1903
The Victoria & Albert Museum

A dazzling mosaic of gold and diamonds created in 1903 by Cartier, the Manchester Tiara, has been drastically altered since its initial creation. The design of graduated “flaming hearts” and “C scrolls” is said to have been inspired by images of pre-Revolution France. Louis Cartier insisted that his designers replicate the look of Eighteenth-Century French ironwork and assorted architectural masterpieces around Paris and at Versailles in the design.


The tiara was created for Consuelo, Duchess of Manchester. Consuelo was a duchess by marriage. American by birth, she wed into the British nobility in 1876. The vivacious beauty was quickly embraced by high society. The Duke of Portland said of the Duchess that she, “took Society completely by storm by her beauty, wit and vivacity and it was soon at her very pretty feet.”

The Tiara with Paste Adaptations

Her charms notwithstanding, she wasn’t a good steward of her jewelry in my opinion. She had the diamond surmount which forms the centerpiece of the tiara removed so that the largest of the diamonds could be set into a ring. The tiara was rebuilt with paste set in silver, leaving the central heart and surmount to be eternally fake. Boo!

Curiously, this tiara came to the Victoria & Albert Museum in 2007 under unusual circumstances. It was accepted by Her Majesty’s Government in lieu of Inheritance Tax and allocated to the Victoria and Albert Museum.

Reverse showing alterations at center.

Mastery of Design: The Cartier Hand and Flower Brooch, 1930-1940

Brooch
Cartier, 1930-1940
Gold, Enamel, Coral, Diamonds
The Victoria and Albert Museum

This is kind of creepy, but also quite beautiful. The two states often find themselves married. So, here, we see the undeniable influence of surrealism on world culture. The French especially enjoyed surrealism, so it’s no surprise that the jewelers at Cartier would give it a try as well.

This intriguing brooch is one of a number of similarly odd pins made by Cartier between 1930 and 1940. They all featured a combination of a hand and jewel-set flower. The differences were in material, color and scale. Here, a carved coral hand (adorned with diamond and gold “bracelets”) holds a large black enamel flower set with a brilliant-cut diamond.

Other variations include a black enameled hand with a brightly-polished gold flower of a smaller size as well as a myriad of different set stones. This one is, perhaps the most attractive of the examples, and, also, due to the fleshy color of the coral, the creepiest. 

Gifts of Grandeur: The Queen Mother’s Diamond Chandelier Earrings, 1918

Crown Copyright
The Royal Collection
Image Courtesy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II

Pair of Diamond Chandelier Earrings
Cartier, 1918 and 1922
Commissioned by The Hon. Mrs. R. Greville
Bequeathed to the Queen Mother, 1942
Presented to Queen Elizabeth II, 1947
The Royal Collection

The original owner of these magnificent earrings was the Honorable Mrs. Ronald Greville who asked Cartier to create the pair using every conceivable cut of diamond. In 1918, Cartier presented Mrs. Greville with the earring sans the six large pear-shaped drops. In 1922, the jewelers are Cartier added the drops, giving the finished product an astonishing variety of modern diamond cuts: half moon, trapeze, square, pear, baguette and emerald.

 

These were among the magnificent collection of jewelry which Mrs. Greville bequeathed to Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, upon her passing in 1942. In 1947, the Queen Mother gifted the earrings to her daughter, the future Queen Elizabeth II, as a wedding gift.

Gifts of Grandeur: The Cartier “Attlee” Brooch, 1902

Brooch
Diamonds, Silver, Gold
Cartier, London, 1902
The Victoria & Albert Museum

Tomorrow, we'll get a look at a Scrumptious "Groundhog's Day" Edition of the "Treat of the Week."  For now, let's have a look at another kind of treat which might have fooled the little critter into thinking we might have an early spring.

This brooch of brilliant-cut diamonds, set in silver and backed with gold was made by Cartier in 1902 and presented to the wife of the British prime Minister Clement Attlee when she launched the tanker, “British Fame” at Clydebank in 1948.

Louis Francois Cartier (named for his grandfather), joined the family jewelry business in 1899. More suited to the business world than the artistic world, Louis used his abilities as a businessman to establish Cartier as a famous brand worldwide. Soon, the business expanded with the opening of the Cartier London store in 1902 and the New York store in 1909. This brooch is the work of the London Store and is one of the first pieces to be sold at that location. 

Mastery of Design: The Cartier Encrusted Emeralds Necklace and Earrings

Diamond Rope Necklace and Earrings; Hung with Encrusted Emeralds
Necklace and Earrings:  Diamond Mounts, London Cartier, c. 1935
Emeralds:  Indian, Moghul, 18th-19th Centuries
Image Courtesy of the British Museum
Click on Image to Enlarge.

A magnificent necklace and earrings of platinum, brilliant cut diamonds and baguettes are hung with cabochon emeralds inlaid with ruby and diamond flowers.  These enchanting  emeralds are Indian, Mughal, set during the 18th-19th centuries while the diamond mounts, clearly in the western style, are later additions by Cartier, dating to the mid 1930s.  

The front piece of the ravishing diamond necklace forms a tasselled rope which loops into a double strand of diamonds round the back.  There, the clasp is formed by a large circular encrusted emerald.  The parure is still contained in its original fitted red leather Cartier case.

The encrusted emeralds were found when Cartier travelled throughout India.  The trip was initially to attract wealthy Indian clients who desired to have their jewels reset in platinum in the Western taste of the 1920s.  While there, they found and purchased vast amounts of Indian stones and pearls which they brought back to London to mount for the fashionable society ladies of Paris and London who clamored for jewels in the Indian style.  The grass is always greener.  Of special impact were the many emeralds with which the Cartier team returned.  The Cartier showpieces at the 1925 Paris International Exhibition featured many of these emeralds.  This set of exquisite flower-set emeralds was reserved specifically for this important parure.

I insist that you click on the image above to see the detail of this masterpiece.  

Mastery of Design: The Cartier Mughal Emerald Dress Clip, c. 1935

Dress Clip
Cartier, 1935
This and all related images from The British Museum

The work of Cartier, an Seventeenth-Eighteenth Century, Mughal carved emerald is set in a diamond and platinum mount dating to 1935.  The clip brooch features a hinged fitting for the platinum double prong at the top and set with round and baguette-cut diamonds, forming a lotus-like flower head. 

The antique carved emerald at the front is adorned with a single bloom with radiating petals, the tips of which are flipped to create a three-dimensional effect. At the back, the carving depicts a triple leaf with surrounding foliage. 

The emerald is drilled with suspension holes at the top and the bottom in order to accommodate hanging on a necklace. 

Mastery of Design: A Cartier Ruby and Diamond Parure, 1954

Necklace, Clip and Earrings of Diamonds, Rubies and Platinum
Cartier, 1954
This and all related images from
The British Museum

Click image to enlarge

Made around 1954, this parure consists of a earrings and a necklace which boasts a detachable clip brooch as the dramatic central element. The group is made of fine Burmese rubies and diamonds set in platinum. They’re the work of Cartier’s London location. The parure is still fitted into its original red leather case. The Cartier name is emblazoned in gold on the lid.

Precious Time: The Cartier Owl Clock, c. 1932

Desk Clock
Cartier, c. 1932
Presented to Queen Mary
Crown Copyright
The Royal Collection
Image Courtesy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II

Lapis lazuli, nephrite, mother-of-pearl, enamel, gold, diamonds and sapphires comprise this gorgeous desk clock, a gift from Sir Philip Sassoon to Queen Mary, consort of King George V, on the occasion of Her Majesty's birthday on May 26, 1932.  

Made by Cartier, this ball-shaped clock boasts a flattened mother-of-pearl face (with gold hands) set upon a case of lapis lazuli.  The gold frame around the clock face is adorned with groups of two sapphires on either side of diamonds.  The ball-shaped case sits upon a base formed by three geometricized nephrite owls with sapphire eyes and a triangular lapis plinth with a mother-of-pearl star and silver base.

Gifts of Grandeur: The Cartier Flowerpot Earrings, 1930-5

The Victoria & Albert Museum

These elegant earrings take the form of flower pots from which stylized flowers are growing. Made by Cartier, the designer made clever use of various shapes and cuts of diamonds.


These earrings were a stylistic nod to the “giardinetti” (little garden) rings of the Eighteenth Century, all the while taking a very Art Deco focus with the densely set diamonds. 

Mastery of Design: The Cartier Mughal Emerald Dress Clip, c. 1935

Dress Clip
Cartier, 1935
This and all related images from The British Museum

The work of Cartier, an Seventeenth-Eighteenth Century, Mughal carved emerald is set in a diamond and platinum mount dating to 1935.  The clip brooch features a hinged fitting for the platinum double prong at the top and set with round and baguette-cut diamonds, forming a lotus-like flower head. 

The antique carved emerald at the front is adorned with a single bloom with radiating petals, the tips of which are flipped to create a three-dimensional effect. At the back, the carving depicts a triple leaf with surrounding foliage. 

The emerald is drilled with suspension holes at the top and the bottom in order to accommodate hanging on a necklace. 

Gifts of Grandeur: The Cartier Encrusted Emeralds Necklace and Earrings

Diamond Rope Necklace and Earrings; Hung with Encrusted Emeralds
Necklace and Earrings:  Diamond Mounts, London Cartier, c. 1935
Emeralds:  Indian, Moghul, 18th-19th Centuries
Image Courtesy of the British Museum
Click on Image to Enlarge.

On Wednesday, we'll be taking a look at the wonderful Fourth of July Celebration that Bertie and I enjoyed with my parents. In the meantime, let's get have some fireworks of a different kind with this simply stunning parure of diamonds, platinum, gold, emeralds and rubies which I recently stumbled upon while researching the collection of the British Museum.

A magnificent necklace and earrings of platinum, brilliant cut diamonds and baguettes are hung with cabochon emeralds inlaid with ruby and diamond flowers.  These enchanting  emeralds are Indian, Mughal, set during the 18th-19th centuries while the diamond mounts, clearly in the western style, are later additions by Cartier, dating to the mid 1930s.  

The front piece of the ravishing diamond necklace forms a tasselled rope which loops into a double strand of diamonds round the back.  There, the clasp is formed by a large circular encrusted emerald.  The parure is still contained in its original fitted red leather Cartier case.

The encrusted emeralds were found when Cartier travelled throughout India.  The trip was initially to attract wealthy Indian clients who desired to have their jewels reset in platinum in the Western taste of the 1920s.  While there, they found and purchased vast amounts of Indian stones and pearls which they brought back to London to mount for the fashionable society ladies of Paris and London who clamored for jewels in the Indian style.  The grass is always greener.  Of special impact were the many emeralds with which the Cartier team returned.  The Cartier showpieces at the 1925 Paris International Exhibition featured many of these emeralds.  This set of exquisite flower-set emeralds was reserved specifically for this important parure.

I insist that you click on the image above to see the detail of this masterpiece.  

Mastery of Design: The Cartier Link Necklace, 1954-5

Link Necklace
Cartier, London, 1954-55
The Victoria & Albert Museum

For a period after the Second World War, gemstones were prohibitively expensive and difficult to find through honest trade. As a consequence, gold jewelry became fashionable and was in great demand throughout European and American high society.

While such gold pieces appeared to be quite thick and heavy, they were often hollow, augmented by wire internally. However, the often showcased elaborate and playful designs like this exceptional necklace made by London Cartier between 1954 and 1955.  

The necklace of gold is designed in flexible links in fashionable brickwork pattern.

Mastery of Design: The Cartier African Mask Brooch, 1950-60

Jewelers of the 1950s and 1960s searched for new ways to interpret traditional forms in the same creative dance that comes to art and fashion every half a century or so. As is always the case, eyes trained on the future often nod at the past.

Designed by Cartier in Paris between 1950 and 1960, this brooch depicts a stylized African head. Cartier has cleverly pointed to earlier designs based on African art which became popular in the Nineteenth Century, however, this one has a different message. This brooch was made around the time when France's colonial domination of large areas of Africa was coming to an end.

The mask is carved of white chalcedony, with gold and coral detailing and a single diamond set just above the nose.

Gifts of Grandeur: The Cartier “Attlee” Brooch, 1902

Brooch
Diamonds, Silver, Gold
Cartier, London, 1902
The Victoria & Albert Museum

This brooch of brilliant-cut diamonds, set in silver and backed with gold was made by Cartier in 1902 and presented to the wife of the British prime Minister Clement Attlee when she launched the tanker, “British Fame” at Clydebank in 1948.

Louis Francois Cartier (named for his grandfather), joined the family jewelry business in 1899. More suited to the business world than the artistic world, Louis used his abilities as a businessman to establish Cartier as a famous brand worldwide. Soon, the business expanded with the opening of the Cartier London store in 1902 and the New York store in 1909. This brooch is the work of the London Store and is one of the first pieces to be sold at that location. 

Mastery of Design: Queen Elizabeth’s Cartier Diamond Earrings

 

Queen Elizabeth's Diamond Drop Earrings
Cartier, 1930
The Royal Collection



These earrings by Cartier feature large pear-shape diamonds suspended by diamond trillions and baguettes, set in platinum. They were originally commissioned by The Honorable Mrs. Ronald Greville in 1930. Mrs Greville, a long-time friend of Queen Elizabeth (mother of Queen Elizabeth II, known as The Queen Mother).  When Mrs. Greville died in 1942, she bequeathed the majority of her diamond jewelry (most of it made by Cartier) to Queen Elizabeth.  Today, these personal items are on display as part of the Royal Collection.

Mastery of Design: A Gold and Diamond Wristwatch by Cartier and Jaeger, 1936

Watch
Cartier and Jaeger
1936
The Victoria & Albert Museum

After the First World War and around the time of that whole pesky abdication kerfuffle, wristwatches for women became all the rage in England and in France. Previously, women’s watches hung from brooches or chains and were worn on the bodice. While men had begun to wear wristwatches earlier, it wasn’t really until the 1930’s that jewelers really started to create stylish watches specifically for a woman’s delicate wrist.

Cartier became one of the most desirable designers of watches and often employed the watch-makers at the famed Jaeger for the inner-workings of their pieces. Cartier was celebrated for their rectangular women’s watches known as “baguette watches” because of the resemblance of their shape to a baguette-cut diamond. These watches were often set on elaborately jeweled bracelets and sometimes on simple gold bands. The faces were often adorned with baguette- cut diamonds framing the dial.

This watch from the V&A is a perfect example of the Cartier “baguette watch.”