ELISHA BUTTLER
Pierre, the incredible world and heritage of Cartier has arrived in Melbourne, and alongside jewellery, the NGV presentation of the CARTIER exhibition includes some fascinating archival materials. Can you share more about the Cartier heritage collections– what do they contain and how far back in the history of Cartier do they go?
PIERRE RAINERO
Cartier was, very early on, conscious of the value of its heritage. Documents of the production process were carefully kept over time, and the Maison started to buy back ancient pieces of its production as early as the 1970s. In 2003 a dedicated Heritage Department was created, which I am proud to have led ever since. Its mission extends beyond preserving, promoting and transmitting Cartier’s history; it also encompasses articulating the distinctive artistic and timeless value inherent in the Maison’s style and its creations. Indeed, the responsibilities of the Heritage Department are profound: they are directed first towards the Maison itself, in safeguarding its past and present creations to build the foundations for its future, and equally towards the broader world of creators and applied arts. In terms of collections, Cartier Heritage comprises the archives, the documentation and the Cartier Collection.
The Archives Department was officially created in 1972, with the appointment of a dedicated archivist. The archives are divided across three locations, corresponding to the Maison’s three historical branches: Paris (established in 1847), London (1902) and New York (1909). They hold production records of various kinds dating from the early years of the Maison until today. These include stock registers, design drawings, photographs, correspondences, inspirational books and contemporary digital records. It’s an incredible treasure we are proud to preserve and continue enriching and researching. These archives are made available internally for our designers, and externally to experts or curators, particularly for exhibitions.
Cartier Documentation consists of materials that document Cartier’s public presence, such as press, photographs of celebrities wearing Cartier, cinema and literature. You will see some examples in the exhibition, mostly in digital format. Last but not least, the Cartier Collection preserves jewels, timepieces and precious accessories created from the 1850s to present day. Today, it comprises over 3500 pieces and is still growing. It reflects 180 years of the Maison’s history of style and creativity, and is also a testament to the broader evolution of decorative arts and tastes through time. Founded in 1983, it was conceived as a travelling collection to be shared with a wider audience through museum exhibitions worldwide – the first of which was presented in Paris in 1989. The exhibition at the NGV is the forty-sixth monographic exhibition dedicated to Cartier, and is the perfect occasion to share these unique collections, precious jewels and archival documents with the public.
EB
The Archives are indeed incredibly expansive – the Maison’s founder, Louis-François Cartier, passed on the business to his son Alfred in the 1870s, who in turn passed it down to his three sons, Louis, Pierre and Jacques, at the turn of the twentieth century. What were the dominant trends in jewellery design at the time, and how did the early work of Cartier, through the vision of the three brothers, evolve from these?
PR
When the Maison was born in the mid nineteenth century, jewellery designs largely reflected the taste of the time, rather than signature styles developed by jewellers and goldsmiths. Jewels in the ‘neo-style’ infused with a historicist aesthetic were fashionable, such as Antiquity or Renaissance-inspired pieces. Cartier creations from the first two generations of the family were no exception.
A decisive turning point in the Maison’s history occurred with the arrival of Louis Cartier, the eldest of the third generation, who joined his father, Alfred, at the helm of Cartier Paris in 1898. He was behind the decision to relocate Cartier’s premises to rue de la Paix, the most elegant street in Paris, in 1899, where couture and other jewellery maisons settled. This was the time when Cartier established an in-house design studio.
Among the three brothers, Louis guided the global aesthetic direction of the Maison across its three locations in Paris, London and New York, as each branch had, very early on, its own workshop. Louis was a pioneering spirit and went beyond the prevailing trends of the time. For instance, he preferred the purity of geometric forms to the then fashionable Art Nouveau, daring to stylise motifs and promote the simplification of lines. At the turn of the twentieth century, he introduced an unprecedented ‘modern’ style, which laid the foundations of what would become Art Deco.
EB
Speaking about the workshops, can you share some insight into how Cartier worked with makers, and how the Maison’s own workshops functioned?
PR
First, let’s remember that Cartier was initially a workshop when Louis-François Cartier took over the business of his master Adolphe Picard in 1847. The workshop closed during the Commune [an insurrection in Paris against the French government in 1871], and subsequently the Maison focused more on its retailing activity, specialising in the selection of refined objects crafted by external workshops.
When Louis, Pierre and Jacques took over the business at the turn of the twentieth century, driven by increasing demand, they established progressively in-house workshops in each location. New York started first with its atelier, American Art Works, in 1917, followed by English Art Works in London in 1921, and the Paris workshop in 1929.
Jewellery creation is collective work employing many different crafts, and these workshops gather together all the specialists required for jewellery making, including jeweller, stone cutter, stone setter, polisher. There is one structural culture at Cartier: all craftsmen speak the same language and adhere to the high standards defined by the Maison. They understand the precise expectations regarding elements such as metal fineness and volume. Today, the Maison is committed to preserving, promoting and passing on rare and exceptional crafts, such as glyptics, the art
of carving directly into gems and hardstones. In 2010 Cartier integrated an in-house glyptics workshop,which is now led by Emilie Marques.
EB
Of the brothers, Louis Cartier was particularly interested in how external references could inform design. He had an extensive library, and he encouraged designers to go out into the world to find inspiration. What are some key Cartier design references that might be new to us?
PR
Louis Cartier was indeed very knowledgeable and an aesthete, but his father and grandfather were too. Louis-François was an amateur and even connoisseur of Eastern and ancient languages, while Alfred had complemented his apprenticeship in jewellery with studies in French, English and history. Both men perfected the elegant French ‘art of living’, and the entire family was steeped in an atmosphere of openness towards and curiosity about the various cultures of the world.
Louis was a great collector of Japanese and Islamic arts – among others – making pieces from his collection available to the designers as a source of inspiration. An example is a set of Persian pen cases from the seventeenth century (now in the Louvre collections), whose motifs inspired various Cartier creations, such as bags or vanity cases. Louis also enriched the library started by his grandfather, which included books such as Owen Jones’s The Grammar of Ornament (1856), a renowned reference book that inspired many Cartier designs.
EB
Cartier is of course a well-established name with a recongisable and refined design language that is unique to the Maison. Can you share some insight into how Cartier worked with individual makers and artisans to create pieces that were exceptional standalone works of design, but collectively and unmistakably Cartier?
PR
Creative work in jewellery and watchmaking is inherently collective and anonymous – historically, the designs were not signed by individual designers. All creations are ultimately designed to be true to the stylistic identity of the Maison. The Maison has, on occasion, collaborated with renowned external designers in specific cases that were absolutely not related to production of pieces. For example, in 1914 Louis Cartier commissioned illustrator George Barbier to create an invitation card for an exhibition at the Cartier boutique on rue de la Paix. The design is iconic today, depicting a lady with a panther laying at her feet in an antique setting, and was made the same year the first Cartier piece featuring a panther motif was created.
There were certainly in-house designers who played a key role in Cartier’s creative history. Charles Jacqueau, for instance, collaborated intimately with Louis Cartier, who hired him in 1909. Jacqueau was instrumental in forging Cartier’s pioneering style moderne during the 1910s. Another remarkable internal talent was Peter Lemarchand, who worked in close collaboration with Jeanne Toussaint, the Maison’s Creative Director from 1933 to 1970. In the 1940s, notably, Lemarchand conceived some of the most breathtaking animal jewels, celebrated for their extraordinary realism and vibrant spirit – some of these pieces were acquired by the Duke and Duchess of Windsor. A further pivotal figure is Aldo Cipullo, who, during his tenure at Cartier New York in the 1970s, conceived the iconic Love and Nail bracelets. These designs not only captured the dynamic spirit of the era but also exemplify Cartier’s ability to see beauty wherever it may be, even in everyday objects.
Ultimately, the creative process at Cartier is the culmination of a collective endeavour drawing upon a broad base of expertise, and is meticulously nurtured within the hallowed secrecy of the Maison’s studios and ateliers.
EB
Vibrant colour combinations are another Cartier hallmark. What insights can you share about how Cartier has approached colour over the decades?
PR
Cartier’s attraction to colour is inherent to its identity as a jeweller. Beyond criteria of quality, each stone is also selected for the intensity of its hue, the charm of its nuances, its brilliance. Like a painter, the Maison thus composes its own palette, which has been enriched over time. Notably, Louis Cartier pioneered bold combinations in the 1910s, inspired by the bursts of colour showcased by the Ballets Russes, which premiered in Paris in 1909. Blue sapphires and green emeralds or jade were combined to create the ‘peacock décor’, one of
Louis’s favourite combinations, even though associating blue and green was considered bad taste at the time.
Red and black, inspired by Chinese aesthetics, or green and black were other hallmarks of the modern style. Tutti Frutti is another example of Cartier’s unique approach to colour combinations: to the red rubies and green emeralds traditionally paired in Indian jewellery, Cartier added the blue sapphires – which were considered bad luck in India. In the 1930s, Cartier continued its
audacious exploration of colour combinations by reintroducing so-called ‘semi-precious’ stones (also known as ‘fine stones’), such as blue aquamarines or orange topazes and citrines, into high jewellery. At the same time and in the years that followed, Jeanne Toussaint considerably expanded Cartier’s colour palette. Her creations explored unprecedented combinations, the most emblematic of which included the association of lapis lazuli and turquoise – two shades of blue so different that the monochrome becomes a true contrast – and the violet amethyst with turquoise or citrine, as exemplified by a necklace commissioned by the Duchess of Windsor.
Today, the Maison’s palette has expanded to include more delicate and nuanced associations, in monochromatic schemes or camaïeux, as well as softer nuances such as pastel mauve, blue and seafoam green. Black also plays a structural role in Cartier’s repertoire, serving as a punctuation mark that conveys contrast or movement, and even optical illusion. Colour combinations are fundamental to Cartier’s style, which is why the curators have dedicated a section to this theme within the exhibition.
Pierre Rainero is Cartier Director of Image, Style and Heritage.
Elisha Buttler is Deputy Editor of NGV Magazine and Head of Audience Engagement.
This essay was first published in NGV Magazine | Issue 59 Jul–Aug 2026.