Cartier

Cartier Trinity x Emma Corrin



Emma Corrin Cartier Trinity in HTSI

Loving Emma Corrin in the FT’s HTSI this weekend.

To celebrate the centenary of Cartier’s Trinity ring, Emma is showing off the new ‘cushion shape’ (jeweller-speak for square with rounded corners) in both the ring and bangle update. The Cartier Trinity ring with its three intertwining bands of yellow gold, rose gold and white gold is famous for its radical simplicity and gender-fluidity, which chimed with 1924’s garconne era of flapper dresses and gamine haircuts. While fashion lore ascribes its creation to Jean Cocteau, it was in fact designed by Louis Cartier. (Cocteau was an avid fan though, so that’s endorsement enough for me.)

Bonus points here for Harry Lambert’s styling and Indigo Lewin’s photography. Never not loving an extreme close-up cover and a skinny leather tie… (more…)



The Culture of fashion: Susy Dyson’s Cartier bangles



Cartier coloured enamel bangles

Think of Cartier classics and you probably think of Jeanne Toussaint’s panther-themed pieces or Aldo Cipullo’s 70s signatures, the Love bracelet or the Juste un Clou. But not so much pieces like these simple enamel hinged bangles from the 1980s (above).

This threesome (sold singly) is part of an auction taking place this week of 70s Peruvian model Susy Dyson’s jewellery and accessories. Dyson was a favourite model of Yves Saint Laurent, Armani, Karl Lagerfeld and Issey Miyake, not to mention Helmut Newton. Her personal style seen in the accompanying auction imagery sums up the casual-yet-jet-set glamour of the 70s. Youthful, free-spirited and chic, it straddles the high-low style and status that we now accept as standard. (more…)



Single or stack?



Cartier Trinity bracelet by Chitose Abe Sacai

Cartier has been in the news a lot in the last 12 months. Mostly for its watches (this was the latest release and this guy seems to be its most high profile collector), but this month for a new jewellery drop (above).

The Cartier x Chitose Abé (of Sacai fame) collab is perfectly in sync for the two design leaders. The Cartier Trinity ring was initially created in 1924 by Louis Cartier and was a favourite of Jean Cocteau. Its three intertwining bands of yellow gold, rose gold and white gold have been deconstructed by Abé into new distorted shapes in a collection of two rings, a bracelet, a necklace and a hybrid earring-ring. (more…)



From the desk of… Joan Didion



Joan Didion auction

Everyone’s talking about Joan Didion’s stuff.

The late writer’s personal effects are going up for auction at Stair Galleries this month and as is usual these days, there’s a forensic unpicking of the icon’s possessions as an insight into her mind and creative genius.

As a writer she was lauded for her minimalist prose and sharp cultural observations. As a woman she was admired for her self-assured independence and also a cool aloofness. That enigmatic quality no doubt adds to the interest in her possessions; a promised glimpse of ‘the real Joan Didion’. As Rachel Tashjian observes in Harper’s Bazaar, these vignettes present the “warmest portraits ever painted of her”. (more…)