Director de L'Image, du Style et du Patrimoine of Cartier at the Cartier Dome in Miami
WHITEWALL: I am fascinated by the evolution of Cartier’s design, which is evident in the exhibition of jewelry you have on show here. Can you tell me a little bit about this history?
PIERRE RAINERO: The evolution of Cartier’s design combines the history of the design itself with the history of style. And because it is something that was worn by the people, it also shows the evolution of the way people lived. This is especially because jewelry is mainly worn by women, at least now. And definitely in the 19th century you can see the evolution of the role of women within society: the way they changed, and also very pragmatically, the way they moved. I mean here you have some pieces from the beginning of the 20th century, and you have what they call in French the Collier de Chein, because they are really high up on the neck. It shows a lot about the way the women had to stand. If you think about it, they were wearing a corset. And by the way, there was a lot of jewelry that was designed around the corset. Like the big brooches which were enormous. They were so heavy that they had to be attached to the corset beneath the dress. And these disappeared along with the corset. But when you imagine those ladies with the tiara on top of the hair, they could not move. So what you have is the evolution of what women wore. To tell you the truth, corsets disappeared before the first World War, but the change in design came after the first World War.
WW: So it took a while for the design to react to these changes in the role of the woman?
PR: Exactly. So you have the development of the Bandeau which is round so that it can stay on your head. In fact we have examples of the Bandeau from 1912, 1913. Once the corset disappeared, then women start to move differently. The brooches and the corsage disappeared, and the necklaces changed. The silhouette had changed. The location of the belt moved down and the silhouette was totally straight, so the necklace moved down because it was following the silhouette of the women. It became very flexible as a way of emphasizing the new movement and freedom, as well as with the appearance of Cha-Cha, and all the new dances. Women had totally changed their way of behaving. Cartier created the first figurative jewelry with animals. The first big cat was created for a new breed of women who wanted to express her own personality. Before that it was forbidden. Before that women had to wear more formal clothing, and they had to wear very formal jewelry. But by the beginning of the Twenties or Thirties, they wanted something that could demonstrate their character. At first the only women who could wear such jewelry were women who didn’t belong to society, such as actresses, who also happened to be very rich. But then in the mid-thirties there appeared café society, and women within the society were able to wear whimsical jewelry. So, as I was saying, jewelry is really demonstrative of the position of women within society. But at the time you never know, you do it because you have to do it. We are in contact with our customers, and so as we see them changing, so that is why we work that way too. With the new type of jewelry, the obvious conclusion is that it translates a new type of femininity. It is a new expression of femininity. A very different type of femininity than the style that was dominant in the 1980’s. Then the jewelry was thick with an expression of power. And now there is serenity. Femininity apparently no longer has to prove anything. And now it expresses itself in a very light way; a very serene way. I don’t think there is a better way to describe it.
