GIRLS’ BEST FRIENDS
Cartier’s passion for crafting sparklers is portrayed in the All About Cartier Diamonds book, while the belief that diamonds are a girls’ best friend is depicted in a 90-second film that was released online on Monday.
Directed by Johan Renck, the film portrays the full range of emotions experienced by a woman when she slips a Cartier diamond ring onto her fingers.
The Swedish director has previously done films for TV and cinema as well as music videos for various artists such as Madonna, Beyoncé and Lana Del Roy. The Cartier collaboration had him working with model/singer Karen Elson, who lent her voice to a rendition of Diamonds Are A Girl’s Best Friend, written by Jule Styne and Leo Robin back in 1949.
Dressed in a red gown with matching red shoes, Elson appears in the upbeat film that takes the audience to various Paris landmarks from Rue De La Paix and Place Vendome to Concorde and Grand Palais.
Besides the short, the red-haired stunner has also posed for Serge Leblon, whose photos of her are a part of the All About Cartier Diamonds book.
Founded in 1847, the French maison considers itself jeweller to kings, and the king of jewellers with a prowess in finding and transforming exceptional stones to entice women.
The book presents a legendary collection of diamonds in Cartier’s history. In 1869, The Star of South Africa was exchanged for 500 sheep, 10 bullocks and a horse following a proposal by a Hopetown farmer. The 83.50 carat raw diamond was cut in a pear shape in Amsterdam, and later mounted into a brooch by Cartier New York in the late 1910s.
Also discovered in South Africa, but in 1895, the Jubilee diamond was reworked by Cartier, with the magnificent 245.35 carat diamond surrounded by baguettecut diamonds in a tortoise-shaped brooch.
An order placed in 1928 was the Maharaja Sir Bhupindar Singh of Patiala’s ceremonial necklace, which comprised 2,930 diamonds and an exceptional 234.69 carat yellow diamond — resulting in Cartier’s largest 1,000 carat necklace.
The maison’s association with Hollywood stars include Elizabeth Taylor, whose husband Richard Burton convinced Cartier to sell him a 69.42 carat stone that was mounted in a pendant at the request of the actress.
Escorted by three bodyguards, Taylor wore the diamond on Princess Grace Kelly’s birthday. The princess’ engagement ring was also a Cartier with an emerald-cut diamond that she insisted on wearing while filming High Society, which was her last appearance on the silver screen.