19th Anniversary

second son, Pierre (1865–1965) to establish a London branch located at 175-6 Bond Street. Once established, Louis then asked his youngest son, Jacque (1884-1942) to take over as permanent director in 1906. As Jacque moved to London permanently to oversee the Cartier expansion into London, Pierre set his focus on the American market and moved to New York to begin the establishment of the American branch. Cartier & the Competition for the Imperial Russian Court As the Cartier branches were beginning to place more orders worldwide, Pierre Cartier realized his client’s growing fascination with enamel and hardstone carving creations. At this time, Gustav Fabergé, a trained goldsmith working in Russia, was producing the most refined enamel creations of the day by using a process that remained a closely guarded secret within his regional workshops in St. Petersburg & Moscow. As a result, Pierre Cartier made several trips to Russia in 1904 and 1905 to buy enamel and hardstone carvings and generate relationships with local workshops such as the Yahr workshop, which also possessed the secret enameling technologies and methods deployed by Fabergé. Through the use of these regional workshops, Pierre Cartier developed a means to compete with Fabergé. Cartier’s Russian jewelry was in deeper color hues than before and designed with guilloche enameling called “Russian Rays” (Fig. 1). The name was derived from a central radiating design that evolved into zig-zag enameling, which distinguished it from Fabergé’s guilloche enamelin. Eventually, as Cartier mastered its own enameling techniques, Pierre Cartier procured a royal warrant as the “Royal Jeweler to the Imperial Russian Court.” He was unable to open an official Russian branch, however, since Faberge’s regional social & political influence proved to be too strong for Cartier to maintain a presence in that region, adding to the allure and rarity of Russian market Cartier pieces. far right Fig. 5: A rare 1962 Cartier Tank belonging to Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. Price realized: $379,500US, June 2017. Image courtesy Christies, New York. middle Fig. 6: A rare 1940s Jaeger LeCoultre for Cartier Paris Helm in 18kt yellow gold with flared lugs. Ye Olde Timekeepers, Inc. New York. above Fig. 7: A rare 1946 Helm with ‘Vendome’ bracelet watch made by European Watch Company for Cartier. 18kt gold, platinum, diamond. Price realized: $62,500CHF, May 2014. Image courtesy Christies, Geneva. 19th Anniversary 96 www.afamag.com | w ww.incollect.com