Alfred Cartier

"The new company’s association with Cartier, described as the ‘jeweller of kings and the king of jewellers’ by the Duke of Windsor, the former Edward VIII of Britain before his abdication in 1936, attracted Rupert’s attention as he reviewed their latest acquisitions. Among affluent clients worldwide the name Cartier was legendary. It was an old, established firm with a rich tradition, the kind of business that appealed strongly to Rupert. The Paris firm was established in 1847 by Louis-François Cartier. When the Empress Eugénie, consort of Napoleon III, ordered a silver tea service from him he was made. In 1874 his son Alfred succeeded him as head of Cartier. Cartier’s premises moved in 1899 to Paris’s most fashionable shopping area, the Rue de la Paix, where the shop is still a beacon to tourists. In 1904 Cartier was granted a royal warrant of supplier to the Court of St James by King Edward VII of England. A string of other royal houses followed his example, including those of Spain, Portugal, Russia, Siam, Greece, Belgium and Egypt, as well as the House of Orléans and the principality of Monaco. Celebrities and multimillionaires from all over the world bought their jewellery, watches and valuables from Cartier."

"Early in the 20th century Cartier opened branches in London’s Bond Street and Fifth Avenue, New York. Alfred Cartier’s three sons respectively managed the Paris, London and New York houses, but after they died in the 1950s the business fragmented."