In the Paris of the mid 1800s, a city through which cultivation and grace coursed, the emerging centre of artistic refinement, Louis Francois Cartier, apprentice jeweler to Master Adolphe Picard, founded his own atelier in 1847, giving birth to a house that would become legend. One did not easily enter the proud and close-knit society of guilds in which the master jeweler moved and dwelt. Royal commissions heralded acceptance and absolute credibility, but were hard-won and took decades of cultivation. Anon, electrifying the world with dazzling creations that defied convention, yet maintaining the highest level of integrity, Cartier leapfrogged through this traditional gauntlet of time; in very few years indeed, he was recognized and commissioned by the Imperial House of France. In very short order, the still relatively juvenile Cartier gained appointment to the House of Windsor. As the 19th century seemingly galloped toward its end, through industrial and political revolution, most of the remaining European royal houses engaged the already legendary artist and craftsman.
As the 20th century dawned, Alfred Cartier, son of Louis Francois’, chose 13 rue de la Paix as the new premises for the House of Cartier. Thereupon, he entrusted management to his three sons, Louis, Pierre, and Jacques, who expanded aggressively into watchmaking, and the design and manufacture of fine writing instruments, eyewear, and other accessories. At a time when crossing national borders was still relatively rare, the House of Cartier experienced pioneering growth, reaching London, New York, St. Petersburg, and, eventually, every other corner of the globe. Dating from the middle of the 19th century to the present, Cartier grew from the specialised design and production as a traditional joaillier, into the broader fabric of the history of timepieces and writing instruments, and the famous clients who chose to use them.
In 1904, while celebrating his winning of the Deutsch Prize at Maxim's Restaurant, for his "conquest of the air"— on a flight that rounded the Eiffel Tower—Alberto Santos-Dumont, Brazilian early pioneer of aviation, complained to his friend Louis Cartier about the difficulty of checking his pocket watch to time his performance during flight. Santos-Dumont then asked Cartier to come up with an alternative that would allow him to keep both hands on the controls. Cartier went to work on the problem, and the result was a watch with a leather band and a small buckle, to be worn on the wrist. Santos-Dumont never took off again without his personal Cartier wristwatch, and he used it to check his personal record for a 220 m (730 ft) flight, achieved in twenty-one seconds, on 12 November 1906.
The story of Cartier pen making is inextricably entwined with the
deep and abiding friendships of Louis the younger, grandson of Louis
Francois. From Santos-Dumont, to Jeanne Toussaint, to whom Louis gave
the nickname “Panther,” because of her feline-like independent
nature and capricious temper; from Jean Cocteau, who’s vision
it is said inspired the famed Cartier Trinity
design, to the Pasha,
Haj Thami El Mezouari El Glaoui, who was born around 1875. Pasha is
a word of Turkish origin, which was used as a title of honor for a
high-ranking, secular government official. Around the beginning of
the 1900s, as the Ottoman Empire waned, El Glaoui became Pasha of
Morocco. The influence of these and other gifted and passionate history-makers
on Louis Cartier is express in the pen collections bearing either
their formal names, titles, or sobriquets.
From the creation of its first stylos-plumes in 1868 to
today's position as the world's second largest producer of fine chirographic
implements, Cartier has beautifully combined technical innovation
with creative audacity, the latest of which is the much anticipated
and just-released Santos
de Cartier Exceptional, Limited Edition. Bearing individually
riveted aeronautic screws, and propeller-shaped clip, both in gold
plate, and .925 sterling pieces, its restrained boldness reaffirms
Cartier’s ability to break with trend, without abandoning artistic
integrity. Sharing the spotlight with the Santos, LE, its
debut actually preceding, is the Louis
Cartier Backgammon, LE, with richly tooled décor of
inlayed black and ivory lacquer, vertical godrons, and onyx
cabochon detail.
