A dynamic group biography studded with design history and high-society dash . . . [This]
elegantly wrought narrative bears the Cartier hallmark.”—The EconomistThe astounding” (André
Leon Talley) story of the family behind the Cartier empire and the three brothers who turned
their grandfather’s humble Parisian jewelry store into a global luxury icon—as told by a
great-granddaughter with exclusive access to long-lost family archivesMs. Cartier Brickell has
done her grandfather proud.”—The Wall Street Journal The Cartiers is the revealing tale of a
jewelry dynasty—four generations from revolutionary France to the 1970s. At its heart are the
three Cartier brothers whose motto was Never copy only create” and who made their family firm
internationally famous in the early days of the twentieth century thanks to their unique and
complementary talents: Louis the visionary designer who created the first men’s wristwatch to
help an aviator friend tell the time without taking his hands off the controls of his flying
machine Pierre the master dealmaker who bought the New York headquarters on Fifth Avenue for
a double-stranded natural pearl necklace and Jacques the globe-trotting gemstone expert whose
travels to India gave Cartier access to the world’s best rubies emeralds and sapphires
inspiring the celebrated Tutti Frutti jewelry. Francesca Cartier Brickell whose
great-grandfather was the youngest of the brothers has traveled the world researching her
family’s history tracking down those connected with her ancestors and discovering long-lost
pieces of the puzzle along the way. Now she reveals never-before-told dramas romances
intrigues betrayals and more. The Cartiers also offers a behind-the-scenes look at the firm’s
most iconic jewelry—the notoriously cursed Hope Diamond the Romanov emeralds the classic
panther pieces—and the long line of stars from the worlds of fashion film and royalty who
wore them from Indian maharajas and Russian grand duchesses to Wallis Simpson Coco Chanel
and Elizabeth Taylor. Published in the two-hundredth anniversary year of the birth of the
dynasty’s founder Louis-François Cartier this book is a magnificent definitive epic social
history shown through the deeply personal lens of one legendary family.
