CARTIER HISTORY, The Beginning

Cartier HISTORY is a very interesting  one that started 2 centuries ago. The beginning was in the city of light, in Paris on the 2nd December of 1819 when Louis-François Cartier was born. Nothing could prepare the world of what was about to happen as the chance was not on Louis Francois side. Cartier was born in a middle class modest family and nothing could prepare us or imply that this young men would be one of the most important names in the history of jewellery and watch making, symbolising in the next few years the elegance and perfection.

His father was Pierre a metal worker while his mother Elisabeth worked as a laundry woman. When he finished school he completed a watchmaker apprenticeship under Adolph Picard. Pierre turned up to be  an intelligent young businessman, jeweler and watch maker and these three charismatic elements of his personality unique combination made Cartier the iconic brand that we now love.  

CARTIER History 1847

Louis-François was only 28 years old when he founded Cartier, in 1847.  As Louis took over his employer’s store on the famous Parisian street Rue Montorgueil he started forming a new strategy that would attract a broader new audience. 

This was a historic moment for the jewellery world as Louis-François  was the first to introduce ‘imaginative jewellery’ as well as ‘fashion and novelty items’. As this was his first experiment towards that direction, the collection that he created was actually a curated selection of designs coming from local jewels manufacturers that were sold under his own brand.  Almost ten years later in 1853 Cartier decided to move his store to Place du Palais-Royale, a posh street with high end shops. 

In 1859 Louis-François opened his second shop at Boulevard des Italiens. This time the opening was grande as Cartier was endorsed by Princess Mathilde and Empress Eugenie marking his international successful future as a globally recognised high end jewellery brand.  

In 1874 Louis-François son Alfred joined the family business broadening the product connection and working parallel with his father on this amazing business journey. The successful team were able to broaden the aristocratic clients of the brand. 

In 1899 Louis moved the Parisian brand to Rue de la Paix. Louis Cartier is considered to be as one of the most important creators of the revolutional watches that Cartier presented as he was the creative mind behind the famous mystery clock. Mystery Clock was a type of clock with a transparent dial and was named mystery as its mechanism was hidden. Louis created also fashionable wristwatches and exotic orientalist Art Deco designs, including the colourful “Tutti Frutti” jewels.

1993 RICHEMONT GROUP

In 1993 Cartier was sold to Richemont Group 

In 2024 Richemont appointed as the new CEOs at Cartier and Van Cleef & Arpels Louis Fera following his successful previous career as the CEO of Vacheron Costantin since 2017. 

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