Paris - Cartier - 8me

Plate LXXIX - Cartier… 

Paris has a fashion week. Why?

Surely, in Paris, every week is fashion week. 

Take a walk down the Rue du Faubourg St. Honoré and its environs including the Rue Royale and many of the names you’ll encounter are simply legendary – Armani, Balmain, Boucheron, Bulgari, Cardin, Cassegrain, Cerutti, Chanel, Chloe, Courreges, David & Joan (coincidentally the names of my father and mother in law), de la Renta, Dior, Faberge, Gaultier, Givenchy, Gucci, Hermes, Lacoste, Lacroix, Lagerfeld, Lancome, Lanvin, Guy Laroche, Ralph Lauren, Montblanc, Nina Roche, Sonia Rykiel, Yves St. Laurent, Valentino, Versace, Louis Vuitton, van Cleef & Arpels, Maxims Tea Room, and of course that jeweller and purveyor of  those girls’ best friends so breathlessly mentioned by Marilyn Monroe in ‘Gentlemen Prefer Blondes’ … Cartier.

Most well known for its jewellery and watch manufacturing, Cartier holds warrants for most of the royal houses of Europe. Fabled Cartier pieces, auctioned by her estate, were owned by the Duchess of Windsor. The firm was established in 1847 by Louis-Francois Cartier, and his grandsons saw its growth into an international brand. As something of a watch fanatic myself I note that Cartier was responsible for the first gentleman’s wristwatch, the now fabled Santos model designed and named for Brazialian airman Alberto Santos-Dumont. The 1917 and now legendary Tank model, inspired by the war armaments of that name, was introduced during the first Great War. Cartier is today the world’s second largest luxury watch maker (after Rolex) , and continues to introduce innovative and appealing designs, their latest being the Ballon Bleu range. No wonder their advertising concept Les Musts de Cartier serves them so well as musts their treasures certainly are.

The firm is today one of the Maisons of the Compagnie Financière Richemont SA* – owned by the Rupert family - making, for me, a great home (South African) connection.


*Disclosure - this blog is not intended for commercial gain - the writer holds shares in Compagnie Financière Richemont SA.