Les Cartier, the book that delves into the roots of this family business

For some time now, we have seen the impact of Francesca Cartier Brickell's book grow on social networks.

Very active on her own account, the latter multiplied signatures and conferences on her illustrious family across the Atlantic.

On the French side, no sounding board still existed and faced with the frantic pace of novelties and speeches of the current Cartier house (property of the Richemont group) we ended up wondering what substance had this family work, written without any collaboration with the brand.

It was without counting the French translation of the book, which arrives on time on the shelves in this month of October, which will be punctuated in a few weeks by the reopening of the legendary shop at 13 rue de la Paix.

And it is clear that it becomes very difficult to let go of this novel after having started it...

Jewelery saga

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Les Cartier by Francesca Cartier Brickell, published by 5 continents - Les Arènes, €26.90.

Editions Les Arènes / Photo press

There are several reasons for this.

The first undoubtedly comes from the very genesis of the book and its intimate aspect.

Very close to her grandfather, Jean-Jacques, one of Jacques Cartier's four children and the last to own one of the brand's branches before it went on sale, Francesca Cartier Brickell never suspected throughout her childhood that the house family on the heights of Nice hides in a trunk all the correspondence between the three brothers.

Stumbled upon this treasure by chance, she decides to take advantage of Jean-Jacques' last years to record her memories and her version of the facts.

Fragments of the past that she will then confront with the testimonies of

Secrets of history

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Jacques Cartier buying stones.

Editions Les Arènes / Photo press

The second comes from the wealth of information that we get from this investigative-like book.

Data as valuable for neophytes as for jewelry specialists who thought they knew the history of the house like the back of their hands.

Because if we have always been nourished by the starry success stories of the brand, both in London with the British royal family, and around the world with its legendary customers (Daisy Fellowes, Elizabeth Taylor or Marjorie Merriweather Post to name but a few), here we discover behind the scenes.

We will remember the wealth of factual information that puts the beginnings of the company into context, tossed about by the horrors of history (wars, fall of the Napoleonic empire, recessions, deaths and divorces...).

But which also give a glimpse of the Paris of the time, where jewelery moved from the Halles district to the Opéra and where the first transatlantic cruises saw the rich American heiresses of the new world shake up the traditional Parisian bourgeoisie.

The couturier Worth then reigned supreme there and Cartier was going to have to carve out its place in the sun and dislodge its competitors of the time.

precious legend

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Kate Middleton wearing the Cartier Halo tiara at her wedding, created in 1936 and worn by four generations of the British royal family.

Editions Les Arènes / Photo press

The most curious will enjoy plunging into life and familiarizing themselves with the strong character of these three brothers, their wives and their parents.

A tenacity transmitted from father to son that will allow them to never back down in the face of obstacles and to lay the foundations of contemporary jewelery and customer service, so much sought after today.

As the author points out at the end of her book, "I only hope that this story will convey a fraction of the wonder I felt when I listened to my late grandfather bring to life the ups and downs of a very different".

Successful bet.