The Story Behind Cartier's Panther
A legacy brand is obliged to deliver on the expected. There cannot really be a Cartier High Jewelry collection without a diamond-studded panther, can there? How then to maintain tradition while still stoking the desire for novelty so ingrained in the modern collector? A case study was revealed in a private room at the Ritz Paris last summer.
Panthers have been part of the Cartier jeweled menagerie since the early 20th century. The Panthère can first be spotted in a Cartier wristwatch from 1914, when the pattern appeared in diamond and onyx. That year a Cartier greeting card prominently featured the feline at the feet of an elegantly dressed woman. Legend has it the ferocious Jeanne Toussaint was inspired after spotting a panther in the wild while on safari with Louis Cartier. By then she was already director of Cartier Jewelry, and soon the Big Cats started prowling the house vitrines. Jewelry history is spotted with them. But how to surprise, a century later? Proportion and palette are key. The first three-dimensional Cartier Panthère was created in 1948 for the Duchess of Windsor, using a 116.74-carat emerald from her husband’s own collection. The cat, in gold and onyx, was perched right above the enormous stone.
The central feline in the necklace seen here, from the new Beautés du Monde High Jewelry collection, is reminiscent of that: A diamond and onyx panther sits on a 24-carat emerald from Zambia, but it hangs, almost casually, from a pendant necklace of diamonds, onyx, and, in a surprise move, that rarely used Art Deco gem, carnelian.
This story appears in the April 2023 issue of Town & Country. SUBSCRIBE NOW
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