Francesca Cartier Brickell, tells how the genius of the three Cartier brothers transformed a small Parisian jeweller into a global name.
Francesca Cartier Brickell is independently researching the fascinating story of Louis, Pierre and Jacques, the famous Cartier brothers who travelled the world, took risks and showed both great design as well as business acumen to create an internationally recognised jeweller. Based on conversations with her grandfather Jean-Jacques Cartier and a long-lost family archive of letters, photographs, sketches and documents, Francesca tells the family story her very own way. You can keep up to date with Francesca's research by following her on Instagram at Creating Cartier.....MUCH MORE
TJE: Your grandfather, Jean-Jacques Cartier, son of Jacques, was the fourth-generation of the family who built one of the world’s most successful jewellery businesses. What was it like growing up with that history?
FCB: Well, I grew up spending summer holidays at my grandfather’s magical house in the South of France. As a child, I remember my ancestors staring back at me from black and white photographs dotted around his house. To be honest though, I can’t say I found them anywhere near as enticing as the lure of the swimming pool!
There’s a relatively well-known picture of my great-great-grandfather and his three sons, Louis, Pierre and Jacques Cartier that was in my grandfather’s room (below). I guess I knew these men had done something important but, to me back then, they were just black-and-white, two-dimensional figures - a world apart from my wonderful grandfather and our secret childhood adventures in his glorious garden. I mean, as far as the link goes with Cartier’s iconic jewellery and the opulent worlds of Indian Maharajahs, Belle Epoque princesses and Russia Grand Duchesses, all this was entirely lost on my seven-year old self.
TJE: So what sparked the interest in the history of Cartier as a family firm?
FCB: Thankfully, when I became a bit older, I started to speak to my grandfather about his past. Jean-Jacques had run the London branch until it was sold by the family in the 1970s. He had the most incredible stories; lunches around the dinner table were filled with evocative tales about jewels and heiresses, creativity and family drama. I was also lucky enough to make a chance discovery with him of some long-lost family archives. It was then, as we pored over our ancestors’ letters together, laughing at their jokes and moved by their misfortunes, that those two-dimensional figures in the family photos really sprang into life.
Jean-Jacques was a very private man by nature but he could see how interested I was in the history. Several years before he passed away, he started to share with me his memoirs and gave me his blessing to write the Cartier story from a family perspective. That really set me off on a whole new path. Having worked in finance, I took the rather crazy or brave decision to focus on researching and writing this story instead. I’ve spent the last decade travelling the globe following in the footsteps of my ancestors - from London, Paris and New York to Mumbai, Budapest and Colombo - and interviewed many wonderful designers, salesmen and jewellery dealers who still remember those times. It’s been amazing and at times, I’ve felt like a detective, tracking down people thousands of miles away for a single unique insight or spending hours in libraries researching an intriguing clue from a 19th century letter. The research has involved staying in Indian palaces, colonial hotels and French châteaux, not to mention my fair share of grotty Airbnbs. I’ve traced the origins of Cartier’s style and matched faded sketches on old scraps of paper to finished jewels. But what’s been so special is the way I’ve come to know my ancestors. I feel I can see the world through their eyes. I understand their talents and motivations, their failings and weaknesses. And hopefully I can begin to explain how they built such a successful business.
TJE: What stories can you share with us about Cartier’s beginnings?
FCB: Now Cartier that is a globally-recognised luxury brand, perhaps it’s hard to even imagine that it was once a small family firm. But back in the 1840s, it was barely even a business, just a little Parisian workshop struggling to survive in difficult conditions. Start-up founders may complain that times are tough today but when Louis-François Cartier set up his jewellery firm in 1847, he had a revolution to contend with in his first year of operation. It’s no easy undertaking to sell diamonds when people are so hungry they’re forced to eat rats.
His only son, Alfred, was next in line to manage the family business from the 1870s. If you look at that photo (above), it is Alfred who is the distinguished older man second on the right, complete with fob-chain across his waistcoat and a characteristic French beret....
