BOOK AN APPOINTMENT
From royal tiaras to iconic cult classics, the Victoria & Albert Museum has flung open its doors to the UK’s first major Cartier exhibition in almost three decades. With over 350 dazzling pieces on display, this exhibition offers a glittering journey through royal history, exquisite craftsmanship, and the evolution of modern luxury.
While many still instinctively associate Cartier with the louche glamour of Paris and the storied elegance of Place Vendôme, this exhibition deftly reveals the equally significant – if sometimes underestimated – British chapter of the maison’s global story. Founded in Paris in 1847 by Louis-François Cartier, the house quickly ascended to the pinnacle of European luxury. But it was the shrewd decision to expand beyond France’s borders that would see the Cartier name become a global byword for aristocratic glamour.
The three Cartier brothers each established ateliers in Paris, London, and New York, turning the brand into a global dynasty of diamonds. Paris was in the midst of the ‘Belle Epoque’ following the end of the Franco-Prussian War, New York was coming out of the other side of the 1907 Wall Street crash and London had just welcomed a new monarch
London proved fertile ground for innovation. Though the Cartiers initially expected British tastes to be more conservative, they soon learned otherwise. Between the glittering demands of Edwardian court life and the endless carousel of debutante balls, Cartier London found its niche: the tiara capital of Europe. Business was booming and by 1909, following their great success in this new country, Jacques Cartier initiated their move to a larger more imposing premises at 175 New Bond Street, where they continue to trade today.
With a blend of imported French savoir-faire and homegrown English talent, the London workshop, English Art Works, was opened in 1921 and developed its own distinctive style. There was experimentation with unconventional stones such as citrine, aquamarine, and topaz, as well as an architectural elegance to their pieces. Tiara crowns could be dismantled into brooches and necklaces, giving British practicality a dazzling makeover.
Some of the most remarkable pieces in the exhibition are products of this uniquely London ethos. The Tutti Frutti bandeau commissioned by Edwina Mountbatten in 1928 to mark the birth of her daughter is a kaleidoscopic triumph of East-meets-West design. Also on display is the extraordinary Lady Granard emerald necklace—featuring a 143-carat gem that looks less like jewellery and more like sorcery—and the Williamson Pink diamond brooch, created for Queen Elizabeth II in 1953, its centrepiece a rare 23.60-carat pink diamond that manages to be both delicate and commanding.
By the 1970s, the Cartier business passed out of the family and the individual character that had once distinguished Cartier London from Cartier in Paris and New York became somewhat diluted. The London workshop, which by that point had moved out of the historic New Bond Street boutique, continued to produce pieces, but it was not with the same flair and imagination. By 2008, amid financial turbulence, English Art Works finally closed its doors.
Its absence is keenly felt, but its legacy lives on – not only in the vitrines on display at the V&A but also in the occasional appearance of London-stamped pieces that appear on the market today.
We are fortunate enough to have several pieces holding the Cartier London signature. Among them, a magnificent 1930s diamond cluster ring featuring a 2.11 carat carre-cut diamond adorned by perfectly matched angular diamonds. A prime example of the Art Deco aesthetic, this ring would have been crafted alongside some of the masterpieces on display at the V&A under the watchful eye and leadership of Mr Jacques Cartier himself. A ring of this calibre is a rare opportunity to own a piece of Cartier London’s legacy!
The Cartier exhibition at the V&A Museum in London will run from April 12 to November 16, 2025
