Years and years and years ago, I remember gearing up for my first term at fashion college. We were given a list of things we needed to buy, which necessitated a trip to R. D. Franks in Market Place (off Oxford Circus) to stock up on essential books and magazines. (more…)
Jewelled cigarette cases, necessaires, cigarette cases, necessaires… Cartier could quite easily have staged its Cartier: Style and History exhibition at Paris’s Grand Palais around these stunning, opulent objects alone. A historic display of around 600 pieces, most from the Cartier archive, it comprises grand tiaras from the world’s royalty (both regal and Hollywood), epic jewels, and magical timepieces, alongside original sketches, plaster moulds, photos and ledgers. (more…)
Get me to Paris and fast! Forget the Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré, the only luxury trinkets I want to see this month are safely ensconced in the Grand Palais for the just-opened Cartier. Style and History exhibition.
Amongst the 600-odd pieces of jewellery and 300 contextual objects (paintings, dresses, archive documents – oh my!) on display at this exhibition, there’s a focus on Jeanne Toussaint. Cartier’s head of accessories and later director of jewellery, her bold and clever work has been frequently referenced by modern jewellers.
This 1944 singing uncaged bird brooch represents the liberation of France:
You may have seen the pictures of Kristen Stewart looking very grown up in Victoria Beckham’s tangerine dress and Louboutin Decollettes. But did you spot the bracelet? Of late, Stewart has switched up her grungy Converse-with-everything image for something way more pap-worthy, right down to the smallest detail. In this case, she’s become surgically attached to Cartier’s iconic Juste Un Clou (‘just a nail’) bracelet, the gold ‘bent nail’ that was reissued earlier this year from the depths of the Cartier vaults. (more…)
