Dietz Bergeron is so fond of some
of her Cartier acquisitions that she staunchly refuses to part with certain
pieces, such as her Edwardian pearl and diamond bracelet. She figures it is
worth more than double what she paid about 10 years ago. “Cartier pieces,
especially from the Edwardian and Art Deco periods, are hard to find, and there
are no good deals around anymore.”
She recalls a moment a few years ago when
she came across a simple Cartier gold leaf brooch from the 1940s. “My business
partner said I must have paid a world-record price for a plain gold brooch,” she
remembers. “But it was perfect.” Ultimately, she sold the brooch at a profit—but
she wishes she still owned it.
“You don’t buy a Cartier design like that for
its intrinsic value,” Dietz Bergeron says. “You buy it for the design,
workmanship and the way it lays perfectly on a woman’s clothes.”
Modern
Cartier pieces, Dietz Bergeron said, do not have the same cachet of most of the
older pieces. While she contends that the house has maintained its quality, she
also counsels that a buyer cannot expect to acquire a new item and sell it for a
profit today. “They are making so much jewelry today at a wide range of prices,”
she explains. “The brand’s image has a much broader appeal than it did during an
earlier era, when only a select few could afford to wear a Cartier design.” | | THE MAHARAJ of Nawanagar once owned this 1928 Elephant Mystery Clock, made of
jade, gold, pearls, diamonds, onyx and rock crystal. |
Admirers Abound
The number of worldwide Cartier collectors is rising,
notes Stanislas de Quercize, Cartier’s president and CEO, as a result of a
growing appreciation for period jewelry and the brand’s increasing exposure in
museum exhibitions and at auction. The most desired pieces are indeed jewelry
from the Edwardian and Art Deco periods, along with limited watches and the
Mystery Clocks. Jewelry with a provenance, such as the pieces that belonged to
the Duchess of Windsor, bring top dollar.
American Cartier collectors are
particularly enthusiastic of late, according to Rainero. One such client is
buying anything with a dragon theme and also custom-ordering dragon pieces.
“Jewelry collectors can be compared to art collectors,” he explains. “Some
people collect Impressionists and other modern artists, just as some Cartier
clients only want dragon themes, Art Deco styles or panther pieces. The best
collections are made around passion. A person should fall in love with the
object or design.”
Cartier’s Mystery Clocks, made in the 1920s, seem to be
among the most valuable collector’s items of late, if market prices are any
indication. The clocks are to Cartier what the Imperial Eggs are to Fabergé, a
symbol of the brand’s imagination and masterful craftsmanship. Master clockmaker
Maurice Couet developed the system using the earlier principles of clockmaker
Robert Houdin. Cartier created approximately 90 clocks, all of which feature
hands that appear suspended in air. (Hence the name Mystery Clock.) Collectors
especially covet the six original Portico models; these are valued in the range
of $2 million each.
The Cartier family continued running the business until
the 1960s when the three flagship stores—Paris, New York and London—were sold
separately. In 1972, a group of investors, with Robert Hocq as president, took
over the Paris operation with the intention of maintaining the brand’s luxury
position while growing on an international scale. The stores in London and New
York were brought back into the fold, and the modern Cartier now answers to a
corporate board of directors for Richemont Group, the current owner, which looks
to increase profits and market share. Meanwhile, Cartier cognoscenti wonder how
the new house will delicately balance its desire to build the brand into a
global powerhouse against the need to maintain the cachet that made Cartier one
of the greatest jewelers of the 20th century.
“We keep the past alive by
celebrating our roots,” reflects de Quercize. “When designing the new Collection
Panthere de Cartier, we built upon Cartier’s rich heritage, while reinterpreting
the designs to make them relevant, not only for today but for years to
come.”
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