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| Passion Investments: Gems & Jewelry |
The Jewels in the Cartier Crown
Jill Newman
09/01/2004
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Eyes of the Beholder
The museum exhibition examines the cultural and
symbolic importance of Cartier’s creations through the eyes of one aesthetician,
the renowned Italian architect and designer, Ettore Sottsass. The choice of
Sottsass is particularly intriguing because, by his own admission, he bears
neither specialized knowledge of nor appreciation for jewelry. Yet,
enigmatically, Cartier invited the designer to view its archives of more than
3,000 pieces and select designs that represent his vision of the brand.
 |  | | DIAMONDS, EMERALDS, sapphires, coral, onyx, mother of pearl, gold, platinum
and enamel embellish vanity cases made by Cartier in the
1920s. (Photographs courtesy of Cartier.) |
“I
tend to ignore everything about an object apart from its design,” the
86-year-old Sottsass notes, describing his criteria for inclusion in the
200-piece exhibition. “I care nothing for the social importance of pieces or
their material value. My choice was made on the basis of colors and the quality
of design.” Marzio observes: “Through Ettore’s eyes, you see Cartier exclusively
for its originality, blending of styles and cultures, and avant-garde design
aesthetic.”
The exhibition, which has appeared in the Vitra Design Museum in
Berlin, the Palazzo Reale in Milan and Daigo Ji, a Buddhist Temple in Kyoto,
features garland diamond jewelry from the early 20th century, geometric Art Deco
designs and pieces that portray African, Asian and Egyptian inspirations. The
Houston show is a testament to the continuing worldwide interest in the Cartier
design aesthetic, particularly in the period from the early 1900s through the
1940s. It is the latest in a series of important Cartier exhibitions staged over
the past decade from the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg to the Museo del
Palacio de Bellas Artes in Mexico City.
| The Stratospheric prices commanded by Cartier pieces in recent years
demonstrate the house’s continuing desirability as a collectible. |
Two of the most outstanding pieces
from the post-World War I era in the exhibition are a Chinese floral vase brooch
with carved coral and emerald leaves and rose-cut diamonds, circa 1928, and
an Indian-inspired Tutti Fruitti bracelet of carved sapphires and rubies,
emeralds, onyx beads and diamonds that Cole Porter gave his wife and muse, Linda
Lee Porter, in 1925.
 | | CARTIER DESIGNED this necklace and bracelet set, made of platinum, peridots
and diamonds, in 1936. |
Elusive and Elite
The stratospheric prices commanded by Cartier pieces in
recent years also demonstrate the house’s continuing desirability as a
collectible. At the Christie’s auction of heiress Doris Duke’s jewelry in June,
for example, several Cartier pieces sold well above their estimated value. A
Belle Epoque diamond necklace, circa 1908, estimated at $800,000 to $1.2
million, sold for $2.3 million, a world auction record for a Cartier diamond
necklace. An Art Deco diamond bracelet, circa 1927, (estimated at $350,000 to
$500,000) sold for $1.2 million.
The extraordinary price of Cartier’s
delicate diamond, pearl and platinum Belle Epoque necklace, which features three
pear-shaped diamond tassels, even caught the interest of François Curiel,
chairman of Christie’s Europe and international head of Christie’s Jewelry
Department. “Its design and period, and use of extremely old Indian diamonds no
longer available today, made it effortlessly eclipse its intrinsic value,” he
remarks.
Camilla Dietz Bergeron, a New York-based estate jewelry dealer and a
Cartier collector in her own right, is a disciple of the house from the late
19th century through the 1950s. While others produced beautiful pieces during
that period, she maintains, “Cartier’s designs were superb, not radically
different. But they achieved an unrivaled beauty throughout every period, and
their craftsmanship was always impeccable.”
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