FAMILY SECRETS

The discovery of a battered trunk in the cellar of her grandfather’s house in the south of France – filled with old documents and correspondence – led FRANCESCA CARTIER BRICKELL on a decade-long journey of discovery. François Oosthuizen speaks to her about her book, The Cartiers: The Untold Story of the Family Behind the Jewelry Empire.

- FRANCESCA CARTIER BRICKELL

First published in hardback by Ballantine Books in 2019 and last year as a paperback, the story of the family behind the jewellery empire is a captivating tale filled with intrigue, drama and fascination – all the more significant since it is told by the granddaughter of Jean-Jacques Cartier (1920-2010), who is the great-grandson of the maison’s founder Louis-François Cartier.

Ten years of Francesca Cartier Brickell’s life went into researching and writing the book. The experience not only revealed never-before published details about the family behind the global jewellery dynasty, but it also gave Francesca a deeper understanding of her own roots.

The Cartiers: The Untold Story of the Family Behind the Jewelry Empire offers a behind-the-scenes look at the French maison’s most iconic jewellery – the notoriously cursed Hope Diamond, the Romanov emeralds, the classic panther pieces – and the long line of stars from the worlds of fashion, film, and royalty who wore them.

It is also a compelling family story. Some of the most famous characters include the third-generation business owners: Louis Cartier, the visionary designer who created the first men’s wristwatch to help his aviator friend Alberto Santos-Dumont tell the time easily; the master dealmaker Pierre Cartier, who bought the house’s New York headquarters on Fifth Avenue for a double-stranded natural pearl necklace; and Jacques Cartier, the father of Jean-Jacques and a globe-trotting gemstone expert whose travels to India gave Cartier access to the world’s best rubies, emeralds, and sapphires, which inspired the celebrated Tutti Frutti jewellery style.