1870, Paris is under siege.
All businesses were forced to shut down.
But Cartier wasn't ready to give up.
They were ready to do anything to save their small shop and family's legacy.
The founder leaves his son behind, and forces him to survive on dog and rat meat.
And soon, they find a way out.
This is how a poor boy invented Cartier and changed the lives of
many who know the brand today.
In the 19th century, Louis-François Cartier was born to a poor metalworker
and laundress in Paris, France.
Growing up, Louis-François dreamed about pursuing a formal education.
But sadly, his future was not up to him.
Being the oldest son in a family that now had seven mouths to feed,
Louis-François’ father ordered him to work to help support the family instead.
Louis-François obliged.
And then began an apprenticeship with master watchmaker and
jeweler, Adolphe Picard.
The work was not easy.
Louis-François had to work grueling 15-hour days and was often treated
like a prisoner by his superiors.
However, he managed to persevere, and after several years, it paid off well.
When Adolphe wanted to open a new workshop in the fashionable part
of Paris, Louis-François jumped at the opportunity to buy his old one.
He turned to his relatives for a loan and asked Adolphe if he
could pay the rest overtime.
Fortunately, Adolphe agreed to his offer.
He had gotten to know Louis-François over the years and knew he was trustworthy.
Louis-François renamed the workshop, Cartier.
And like his predecessor, he made jewels in-house and then sold them
to other workshops and jewelers.
Only one year later, Louis-François found himself having to abandon
his dreams for the second time.
For months, the tension between Parisians and the king and government had been
brewing due to an unfair social system, poor economy, and poor leadership.
So when Parisians were banned from hosting banquets to discuss ideas for reform,
the tension unavoidably boiled over.
Parisians flooded the streets to protest, just 10 minutes
from Louis-François' workshop.
Armed soldiers sought to contain them by firing shots into the
crowd and wound up killing over 50.
Chaos continued for the next several months and forced businesses like
Cartier to close their doors.
Shaken, Louis-François was certain that he would not be able to reopen his workshop.
But after three long years, a new monarch had come into power
and the chaos began to settle.
Louis-François then decided to not only reopen Cartier’s doors
but change its business model.
Like his former master, Adolphe, he would move his workshop to the
fashionable part of Paris so that he could sell jewelry directly to clients.
The timing couldn’t have been better.
More people were becoming wealthy from the industrialization in France and
luxury returned to being in demand.
However, most people bought from the same and more established workshops,
and Cartier was not among them.
Eager to succeed, Louis-François set out to differentiate Cartier
through quality and kindness.
“Be very kind.
It is the easy way to keep friends whom we may need, however lowly
or great their position is.”
Unbeknownst to Louis-François, it would lead to a chance encounter
with one of the most influential women in Paris — who would open grand
doors for the small-time jeweler.
One day, a woman wandered into Louis-François’ tiny workshop, and headed
towards the gold knick-knacks on display.
After admiring them for some time, the woman wound up buying three brooches.
She later returned to purchase a necklace, and over time, seeked Louis-François
out personally for several more jewels.
The woman was the Countess of Nieuwerkerke.
Louis-François never imagined that the countess would be a loyal customer and
that a scandal would lead to meeting one of the most influential women in Paris.
One evening, the countess wore a Cartier jewel at a party.
There, her husband's mistress caught a glimpse of the jewel and was mesmerized.
Lucky for Louis-François, the woman learned that the jewel was a Cartier,
and she wasn’t just some socialite.
She was a princess and cousin of the emperor.
Princess Mathlide.
After the party, Princess Mathlide decided to pay Louis-François a visit.
One of her watches was broken and needed to be fixed.
Louis-François gladly took it off her hands and managed to repair it for her.
From then on, the princess bought countless jewels from Cartier.
It seemed that luck was finally on Louis-François’ side.
But within that same year, his’ luck began to run out as quickly as it came in.
One evening, a chef in the restaurant below Cartier turned
on the oven to start cooking.
At that moment, an explosion erupted with such force that the ceiling fell in.
A gas leak had gone undetected and the flames spread quickly, destroying
Louis-François’ only three-year-old shop.
In the aftermath, Louis-François managed to have the shop restored
but a fear of fire would haunt him for the rest of his life.
Over the coming years, Louis-François remained careful of potential
calamities but continued to seize new and sometimes risky opportunities.
When a well-known jeweler wanted to retire, Louis-François made
an offer to buy his business.
The shop’s rent was astronomically high but included a variety of
items beyond jewels — leading to Louis-François being sought out
by the most noble woman in France.
Empress Eugénie.
Louis-François could have never imagined that he, the son of a poor
metalworker and laundress, would ever be called upon by the empress.
At the time, the empress was surely the best jewelry buyer in the world.
But unfortunately, she only wanted to buy a silver tea set.
Still, Louis-François would soon learn that even a tiny purchase from the
empress would greatly expand the business.
Whoever she called upon, others would seek.
And it wasn’t long until Louis-François would add more royals to his list of
clients — within France and beyond.
As the Cartier name became even more well-known amongst high society,
Louis-François’ son, Alfred, stepped in to help with the family business.
However, like his father, the timing couldn’t have been worse.
The Franco-Prussian war erupted and Prussian forces seized Paris.
Desperate to protect the business, Louis-François hid all of his jewels
and fled to San Sebastián, Spain.
Meanwhile, Alfred remained in Paris — even after necessities like food
became so scarce that he sometimes had to eat horsemeat, dogs, and rats.
Eager to find another means to survive, Alfred decided to risk
traveling to London to sell gems for a client in exchange for a cut.
Fortunately, the mission was a success.
From then on, Alfred was seen as a trusted middleman between fellow French
exiles who needed to sell their gems to survive, and British aristocrats whose
daily rituals required a change of jewels.
Many were very grateful towards Alfred and became some of his most important clients
— helping Cartier earn an accolade as an official supplier for the Court of St.
James.
Louis-François and Alfred then realized that overseas business
was the only way the Cartier name could survive for years to come.
It would take more than just a father-son duo to succeed.
It would take three brothers, a secret pact, and taking vows in
the name of love — and business.
When Alfred returned to Paris, Louis-François decided it was time
for his son to take over Cartier.
However, he didn’t simply hand the business to him.
Louis-François asked that Alfred pay him 143,000 francs, believing it would
make him appreciate the business more.
Alfred willingly agreed.
He even consented to an arranged marriage with the daughter of a
wealthy merchant, Alice Griffeuille.
When the two married, Alfred was given a dowry of 100,000 francs, more than
doubling his net worth overnight.
Over the next decade, Alfred and Alice welcomed three sons:
Louis, Pierre, and Jacques.
As young as 18, 15, and 9, the brothers understood the importance
of expanding Cartier overseas.
They also acknowledged that they had something that their father never had.
Each other.
Together, they could conquer beyond Paris and split up regions to
create a prestigious jewelry empire.
The brothers agreed that Louis would take on Paris, the
headquarters, and the rest of Europe.
Pierre would take on the Americas and Jacques Great Britain.
Being the oldest sibling, it only made sense that Louis would
take on the most responsibility.
However, he never expected that his life would be used like a chess piece.
Louis was forced to marry The grandchild of the father of haute
couture, Andrée-Caroline Worth.
At the time, the Worths were regarded as one of the leading couturiers in
the world, while the Cartiers were looked down on as mere tradesmen.
Andrée-Caroline was a love child, so she couldn’t marry into aristocratic circles.
Knowing this, Alfred proposed to her father, Jean-Phillips,
that their children marry.
Jean-Phillips was keen to have his daughter marry a decent man and agreed.
Louis begged his father to call the wedding off butAlfred
wouldn’t have any of it.
“You need to think about the future of the family and the business!”
With no way out, Louis grudgingly married Andrée-Caroline.
After the wedding, Louis was able to open a boutique using the
money his father-in-law gave him.
However, he didn’t sit back and get comfortable off his newfound wealth.
Instead, he and Alfred tried one experiment after another in hopes
of taking the business further.
Making platinum, an incredibly expensive and difficult to work
with metal, support precious stones.
At the time, platinum was an industrial metal used in machinery.
Still, Louis and Alfred couldn’t help but imagine using it with jewelry
after seeing how light and shiny it looked on a vehicle and realizing
it didn’t tarnish like silver.
While the two were equally determined, they failed over
and over again to make it work.
Refusing to give up, they eventually found a way through
making a form of hard platinum.
It was strong enough to hold gems in place and light enough to not weigh them down.
When the Cartiers launched this new design, they became the first
jewelers to use platinum successfully.
In the following years, Cartier became known for experimenting with
diverse materials and bold colors.
Louis’ creative ingenuity was credited for many of the new
designs, especially the Santos-Dumont that popularized the wristwatch.
He was determined to fulfill the pact he made with his brothers.
But as Cartier was being taken to new heights, Louis’
marriage was falling apart.
Louis barely tried to make his relationship work, even after
becoming a father — pushing his wife to file for divorce.
While love was not in the cards for Louis, his other brothers would have more luck.
Pierre had found the perfect match in a socialite and daughter of an
American railroad tycoon, Elma Rumsey.
When the two got married, Pierre was able to move to New York and
open a boutique on Fifth Avenue.
And while he was seen as a mere foreigner, his business savviness and
Elma’s pedigree would change that.
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Knowing that many Americans had never heard of Cartier, Pierre
called a company that made telephone directory cards for hotels and
asked that they add his boutique.
He also paid bellboys and waiters for information on potential clients and
then sent his salesmen to meet with them.
Aside from clever sales tactics, Pierre was a natural at knowing how to network.
However, the opportunity to use this talent would come through Elma.
At dinners and charity events, Elma introduced Pierre to New York’s elite
— aristocrats, bankers, and businessmen.
Before long, the Rockefellers, Astors, and Vanderbilts all became
Pierre’s friends and clients.
As Louis focused on design and Pierre on business, Jacques finished
his apprenticeship in Paris and took over the boutique in London.
By then, Cartier had been awarded a royal warrant by King Edward VII after
making several tiaras for his coronation.
“The jeweler of kings, and the king of jewelers,” he would say of Cartier.
In spite of Cartier’s growing reputation, Jacques wasn’t very motivated to fulfill
the pact he and his brothers made.
He became more interested in religion than diamonds and longed to become a priest.
“You are part of the trinity,” Louis and Pierre reminded him.
“We need you.”
Jacques didn’t need more convincing after falling in love with a woman
who was opposite him, Nelly Harjes.
While the two didn’t mind their differences, Nelly’s
father, John Harjes, did.
A partner at J.P.
Morgan, John feared that a mere tradesmen like Jacques was after his family fortune.
But after much begging, John agreed to let Nelly marry Jacques if they could
go one year without seeing each other.
To pass the time, Jacque gave his all to the family business.
He became an expert in gems and traveled East toward the gem
capital of the world, India.
There, Jacques set out to buy and sell jewels to potential clients.
Some ignored and even tricked the then 27-year-old.
But fortunately, Jacque’s integrity and expertise would
eventually lead to gem dealers and Maharajas becoming loyal clients.
When Jacques returned home, he not only had a list of commissions but
ideas for new designs — inspired by his deep appreciation for India.
Even Louis, the creative genius among the brothers, was impressed.
Soon after, the Cartiers held an exhibition to launch the new designs.
It was a complete success and would mark the start of Cartier taking inspiration
from different cultures around the world.
“Inspiration could and should be taken from everywhere, except from existing
jewelry,” Louis would often say.
Over the next decades, the brothers would accomplish their goal of turning
Cartier into a prestigious jewelry empire.
They continued to launch new designs that transformed the industry and
hire people that ensured Cartier never ran out of original ideas.
Most notably, creative director, Jeanne Toussaint.
The brothers would also continue to remain the jeweler of choice for
royalty, the elite, and celebrities — helping the business survive the
Great Depression and both World Wars.
However, the brothers would not be sheltered from other
misfortunes and tragedies.
When Louis suddenly passed away, Jacques would too — only months later.
Pierre stepped up to run the business alone.
But after he passed away, the business would be sold to outsiders.
Today, Cartier is owned by luxury goods conglomerate, Richemont.
And while it no longer has any connections to the business, the
name is recognized as being one of the great dynasties in the world.
Cartier’s products remain widely known for its exquisite craftsmanship
and achieve record prices time and time again at auctions.
As for the business, it now has more than 200 boutiques across 60 countries
and is worth more than $12 billion.