Rivals on Bond Street: Faberge and Cartier

Fabulous online lecture from the Victoria and Albert Museum looking the rivalry between the jewellers Faberge and Cartier at the start of the 20th century.

The talk pitted Kieran McCarthy, curator of the current Faberge exhibition, against Francesca Cartier Brickell, a descendent of the founder of Cartier and author of a book on the family. They obviously knew each other well and had a good-natured discussion on the relative merits of each firm. In doing so we heard an interesting history of each company and their clients.

Cartier was the first of the two companies to arrive in London, setting up shop with the dress designer Worth, with whom they were linked by marriage but they were soon followed by the Russians. A few years later they found themselves on the same road next door to each other. Clients bought from both companies with an emphasis on Cartier for jewellery and Faberge for objects.

I had loved the Faberge exhibition and it was good to hear a bit more about the company and to set it in the context of the wider jewellery market at the time.

 

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