Cartier Exhibition At The Legion Of Honor Museum

December 19, 2009, to April 18, 2010
Legion of Honor Museum
Lincoln Park
34th Avenue & Clement Street
San Francisco, CA 94121
Tickets: $16.00-$20.00

Although San Francisco is only a 90 minute drive away, it's 60 minutes too long for me. I hate hate driving or even sitting in a car for more than 30 minutes. However, the opportunity to see the Cartier exhibit at the beautiful Legion of Honor will make the drive worthwhile.

Cartier and America covers the history of the House of Cartier from its first great successes as the “king of jewelers and jeweler to kings” during the Belle Epoque through to the 1960s and 1970s, when Cartier supplied celebrities of the day with their jewels and luxury accessories. Derived mainly from the private Cartier Collection housed in Geneva, the spectacular array of more than 200 objects includes jewelry of the Gilded Age and Art Deco periods, as well as freestanding works of art such as the famous Mystery Clocks. With an extensive variety of jewelry forms—ranging from traditional white diamond suites to the highly colored exotic creations of the 1920s and 1930s—Cartier made its mark with the ingenuity of its designs and its exquisite craftsmanship. The exhibition, open December 19, 2009, to April 18, 2010, is exclusive to the Legion of Honor. This exhibit concentrates on pieces owned by Americans, including a pair of rock crystal and diamond bracelets worn by Gloria Swanson in the movie Sunset Boulevard, Daisy Fellowes’s famous “Tutti Frutti” necklace, and the exotic flamingo brooch made for the Duchess of Windsor. Private lenders in the United States and France have contributed significant pieces to the exhibition. For the first time, an American museum will feature the personal jewelry of Princess Grace of Monaco from the time of her wedding to Rainier III, Prince of Monaco, in 1956.

Patiala necklace from Cartier's "Haute Joillerie Collection" exhibition from December 2008 in Miami, Florida

The famous Patiala necklace was made in 1928 for Maharaja of Patiala in India in 1928. The original necklace was just under 1,000 carats featuing 2,930 diamonds which included the golf ball sized DeBeers gem 0f 234.69 carats.



Louis-Francois Cartier

(from Fahrney's Pens)
The House of Cartier was founded in 1847 by Louis-Francois Cartier. The "king of jewelers" satisfied the desires of pashas and princes from his workshop in Paris, creating objects of beauty and excellence. These same imperatives continue to inspire Cartier designers today resulting in a line of exquisite writing instruments and accessories all bearing the Cartier signature of style.
In 1874, Cartier's son Alfred took over the business and expanded it considerably. That included watches, which Louis-Francois had only dabbled in. In 1899, Alfred's son Louis Cartier entered the firm. Louis Cartier was a great lover of mechanical pocket watches and wanted the company to build its own watches.