It all starts with a suitcase. A trunk found in the attic of a holiday home in the south of France, containing letters, photos, notebooks or sketches, documents and archives, which belonged to a family like no other: the Cartiers. ” dazzled With this discovery, Francesca Cartier Brickell, great-great-great-granddaughter of Louis-François Cartier, founder of the brand in 1847, undertakes to trace the thread of the history of her prestigious ancestors. Ten years of work, meetings and travels around the world were necessary for him to give birth to a book with the air of an adventure novel.
For example, you come across Jacques Cartier, one of the founder’s grandsons. This tireless globetrotter, fascinated by non-Western cultures, was inspired by Indian temples and Egyptian craftsmanship to design the jewelry that would then be worn by the world’s elite. ” In a Sri Lankan temple, I came across the same design as the one found on Kate Middleton’s tiara! recalls Francesca Cartier Brickell.
Cartier and the splendours of the Orient
What strikes her – and will not fail to strike the reader – is the avant-gardism of Jacques and his brothers, Louis and Pierre Cartier: ” They did not have the mentality of the colonists, did not seek to appropriate, even to plunder, these foreign cultures. On the contrary, they paid homage to them. Their letters, some of which are reproduced in the book, testify to this state of mind, pleasantly surprising for men of the beginning of the 20th century.e century.
This hectic saga, running over four generations of Cartier, tells how a small Parisian boutique at 13, rue de la Paix has become a global icon of luxury and the symbol of French know-how. The key to this incredible success undoubtedly resides in the strict respect of the motto of the house: ” Never copy, always create. »
The Cartiers, Francesca Cartier Brickell, Les Arènes, 608 p., 26.90 euros.
